


Connections

by LostInDream



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Kinda post apocalyptic au type of thing, M/M, Minor Character Death, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Post-Apocalypse, Tags will probably update as it goes I guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-07-04 00:36:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 44,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInDream/pseuds/LostInDream
Summary: The Big Break has affected everyone that was left. It tore the world apart, literally. Despite it putting an end to the violence the had spread, it never put an end to the pain. Nine friends, who stayed together through the world around them slowly crumbling, where separated in the break. It wasn’t until the Final Tremors that it truly set in for them. They were on their own, the world was never to be the same again.





	1. Begin.

The world started to go to shit when Felix was barely 12 years old. He didn’t know exactly what was happening but he did know that whatever happened, life wouldn’t be the same anymore. He lost his family soon after in the first of many riots to follow in his home. Shortly after he met Chan. As time passed their small family grew and soon the nine of them were together, trying to survive in the world. He was just 13 when he realized he was in love. It took so little time for him to find that his love was returned. He was happy so so so happy when he was with Changbin and never wanted that to change. Felix was 14 when the Big Break happened and he watched his love and his family be swept away from him. Two months later the Final Tremors occurred and Felix finally decided that he would search for them.


	2. Chapter 1 - Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Another day in paradise”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m probably going to try and update this every Wednesday but it may change as school is starting soon.
> 
> Chapter warnings: drowning

The sound of his daily alarm blared throughout the room as Changbin finds himself grasping at his last bit of slumber. It was a daily ritual drilled into his mind. Changbin lays in bed for a few minutes just staring at the ceiling.

 

“Another day in paradise.” He says out loud to himself. He pushes himself up from his bed and hisses slightly at the feeling of his bare feet hitting the cold tiled floor. He gets up and makes for the door, grabbing a sweater on the way out to cover his bare chest. The house is mainly silent, save for the sounds of the rain hitting the windows outside and the distant sound of machinery. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, Changbin walks through the living room and heads to the bathroom. He stares at himself in the mirror as he brushes his teeth. ‘Need to cut my hair soon’ he thinks to himself. A quick shower later and Changbin is walking out from the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. He opens one of the cabinets and pulls out a box of cereal to pour into and already waiting bowl. He pours it into the bowl and sets the box down on the counter before picking up the bowl. He walks to his living room, a cold and empty feeling place, and settles down on the couch.

 

Changbin digs a hand into his dry cereal and pulls a few pieces out to eat as he grabs the tablet left on the couch. He opens the tablet, still eating as he does, and surveys the developments that have been made.  
“Fuck” he mutters out loud to no one “the damn water levels are even higher than usual.” He runs his hand through his choppy bangs before getting up to get to work. He walks back to his room and exchanges his sweater and sweatpants for a loose t-shirt and slightly too big pair of jeans. He pulls on a pair of well worn work boots and exits the room.

 

The staircase is slick with water as Changbin heads down to the lower floor of his home. It’s not unusual for him to find puddles across the lower floor but they seemed bigger than usual and that was concerning. He walks down the rest of the stairs and inspects the room for possible sources of the water. Amongst the machinery across the walls and main floor space he finds a leak. In the back corner of the room a small seam had formed. 

 

“Fuck” Changbin mutters to himself, walking closer to inspect the leak. He crouched down in front of it, it seemed small enough that it could be easily fixed. He gets up from his crouched position, walks to grab his tools from the other side of the room and gets to fixing the leak.  
Changbin has nearly finished sealing the seam when he hears it. A dripping sound echoing throughout the room. He completes his work and gets up. ‘Another fucking leak?’ He thinks to himself. He makes his way around the room in search of the source of the sound. His search brings up nothing until he finds himself looking at the window that usually gave a view of the ocean.

“Oh for fucks sake” he says. The once clear ocean view was now blocked by water. Across the top of the glass was a thin crack, just barely sprouting water. Changbin knew the water levels had risen but he didn’t think it was this much. He cautiously extends his hand and attempts to inspect the damage. He was certain he could fix it but for how long would it stay fixed? Changbin brushes that thought aside and carefully starts to walk back over to his tool box. He barely makes it three steps before he hears cracking behind him. Cringing at the sound, Changbin slowly turns back to face the window. Another crack had formed, one significantly bigger than the other. He watches the crack quickly spread, creating a spider web like pattern across the the glass.

Changbin barely has time to process what was happening before the glass shattered completely, allowing the water to come rushing in. It all felt like déjà vu to Changbin as the water hit him in a rush, dragging him off his feet. Within seconds his head was submerged. Seconds after that, his his oxygen was depleted. Changbin knew he was drowning. It wasn’t the first time he’d experienced it. But last time he didn’t have a ceiling trapping him in and had passed out quickly. As he desperately swam in search for the staircase, panic started to set in. He could feel himself getting light headed but he continued to fight to stay alive. His lungs were screaming for oxygen and every inch of him just wanted to give up. Just as he could feel himself slipping from consciousness he felt his hand brush against the stairs. With the little energy he had left, Changbin grasped at the staircase and pulled himself up and out of the water.

He lay there on the cold tile floor for a moment, coughing and trying to catch his breath. Still coughing, Changbin drags himself off the floor and to a control panel on the wall next to the stairs. With his vision still blurry and hand shaking, he attempts to find what he’s looking for. When he finds what he thinks is the button to seal off the lower levels, he clicks it. He lets out a strained sigh of relief as he hears the panels start to close over the entrance to the lower levels. 

‘That’s not going to hold for long’ Changbin thinks. He knows he’s right. It’ll only take a matter of days before the house can’t take anymore and succumbs to the raging storm outside. He knows that it’s over for him, that there’s no escape or any way to fix what had happened. Changbin knew he was doomed to die. Yet somehow he didn’t care. He didn’t care that it was over for him. He just wanted it to be over and he was going to let it happen.

Soaked from his near death experience, Changbin stumbles to his room and grabs a clean pair of sweatpants, not bothering to grab a shirt, and heads to the bathroom. One long shower later and Changbin finds himself back in his room. It’s barely mid day and he already wants to sleep the rest of it away. He makes his way back to his bed, not caring about the frigid air in the room, but pauses momentarily in front on the bookshelf built into his wall. Though they weren’t his and never really interested him, Changbin had read every book there. But he wasn’t concerned about the books this time. He pauses for a moment, debating if he should take it out or not, before reaching behind the books and drawing out a worn piece of paper. A photograph to be exact.

The photo was well worn, clearly had been drenched in water at some point. The edges were slightly tattered and a corner was partially torn. The photo depicted a boy. He had a bright smile, dark brown fluffy hair, brown eyes that had shown in the sunlight and a galaxy of freckles strewn across his cheeks. The boy was grinning and had a bouquet of flowers extended in his hands towards the camera. Changbin could feel tears well up in his eyes as he looked at the photograph. He turned it over and read the inscription on the back.

‘Promise to love me forever, okay Binnie?  
Felix, your star ★’

Changbin feels tears start dripping down his face as he reads the words written. He clutches the photo close to his chest and lets out a heart wrenching sob. It’d been four years since he lost Felix and it still hurt to think about him. He had been barely fifteen years old when he last saw Felix, falling away from him during the Big Break. He knew he was gone, that he’d never see him again. He loved him, more than anything, and just looking at the only thing he had left of the one he loved hurt him even more.

“I guess I’ll be joining you quicker than I thought my star” Changbin says, taking one more look at Felix’s picture. He brings up a hand to wipe away the tears on his face before walking to his bed, photograph still in hand. He curls up into his bed and clutches the photo close to his chest. The only sound to be heard was the pounding of the rain against the windows and the occasional sniffle from Changbin as he drifts off into what would only be a restless sleep.


	3. Chapter 2- Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How long was I asleep?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter:)

Emptiness.  
That’s all Felix felt as he lay in the darkness. He hadn’t known how long it had been, he just knew he was asleep. He knew it was his doing. He wouldn’t have had survived if he didn’t. Somehow he still regretted it though. He had been stuck in his own mind for a while and now it was just getting boring. But he couldn’t get up, not until he found them. So he patiently waited, so horribly bored as he did. 

Yet something was different in this moment. Distantly Felix could’ve sworn he had heard something. He strained his hearing to try and find the sound. Sure enough he could hear something. Distant beeping sounds. It took him a moment to process what he heard but he soon discerned what it was. It was Bucket, his only companion and favourite robot since he had started his search. Why the hell could he hear them? Felix continued to attempt to understand what was happening. That’s when he felt it. The strange pulsing going through his body. Then suddenly the pulsing magnified for a split second and Felix’s eyes were wide open.

The bright light above his head was jarring. Felix blinked for a few seconds before being able to fully process the room. His bedroom was almost exactly as he left it when he put himself to sleep. It was cluttered, miscellaneous parts of robots and machinery piled on the floor and the desk in the corner of his room. It was hard to maneuver through but it worked for Felix. Next to the desk, partially hidden by a pile of robotic arms, was a bookshelf decorated with trinkets and pictures that he had saved. Felix attempts to turn his head to the side, cursing out loud at the strain, and slowly faces his side. As he managed to turn he heard a flurry of excited beeping. It was Bucket.

Bucket was the first robot Felix managed to create after the Big Break and he loved them. They were shaped like a bucket, hence their name, with noodle like arms and wheels for feet. To make them seem more adorable Felix had painted a smile onto their face. Bucket was amazing. As Felix’s eyes met Bucket’s painted on eyes, they let out another flurry of excited beeps. Their beeping was so fast that Felix couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying but he got the general idea. Bucket was happy he was okay.

After a few futile attempts at sitting up in his body he hasn’t used in so long, Felix manages to shakily sit himself up. At the edge of his bed, Felix could see Bucket attempting to get themselves onto the bed but with little success. They settle with just sitting next to the bed, their painted face just barely peeking over the edge. Felix extends his hand, shaking as he does, and pats the top of his companion.

“Thanks bud” he manages to say hoarsely before having a coughing fit. He takes a deep breath in before trying to speak again.  
“Thanks for getting me up-” Felix pauses his sentence, eyes wide for a moment. “What the fuck?” He whispers. He was shocked by how deep his voice was. It had changed so much since he had gone under. ‘How long has it been?’ He thought to himself. He pushes that thought away though and brings his attention back to Bucket. They were still rapidly beeping in a happy tone and Felix could barely make sense of it all. 

“Woah slow down for a second there bud” Felix says, still trying to get used to his voice “I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Bucket pauses after he says that and lets out one last beep before rushing out of the room briefly. They return moments later with a pair of crutches in their arms and gently pushes them onto the bed next to Felix. Getting what they were asking, Felix shakily grabs the crutches and slowly gets himself off of his bed. Leaning on the crutches for support, he makes his way to the door of his room where Bucket excitedly waited. After a few stumbles, Felix manages to get out of his room and is met with an unusually clean sight.

“Damn cleaners.” He mutters as he pauses to survey the room that he once considered his workshop but, had been cleaned so well that it actually looked like the living room again. He knew he shouldn’t have let the cleaner robots access the room while he slept. It would take forever before the room was back to a condition to work in. He made a mental note to change the cleaners programming as soon as possible before he turned back to Bucket. They were at the end of the hall leading away from the former workshop and was paused in front of the door to the computer room. Sighing, Felix walks over to where his friend was. He only pauses for a moment when he passes the open bathroom door and catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He notes that his freckles had begun to fade. It made him sad to see less of them there. His skin looked paler than it once was and his face looked thinner. The thing that caught his eye the most though was his hair. It had obviously grown out more during the time he was asleep but it looked like it was sloppily cut. The longest strands reached just above the base of his neck while the shorter ones stuck up. His were uneven with a strand reaching all the way to his nose. Even more shocking was the colour. Often, before he went under, Felix would dye his hair from time to time so he was surprised to find it still somewhat dyed. The dye job was a messy muddled pale brown that didn’t quite cover his hair properly. Felix studies himself in the mirror for a moment, trying to process exactly what happened before turning to Bucket and saying, “uhh did you do this?” 

Bucket turns to face Felix and happily beeps. Felix sighs, “Of course you did.”   
He hears them let out sad tone. Felix panics for a moment.  
“No no no, I love it! You did a great job bud!” He says with a smile. He could never bare to see his robotic companion sad and was happy when he heard Bucket’s happy response. Felix walks down the rest of the hallway and enters the computer room door where Bucket was waiting. The computer room was a mess of wires that all weaved around different bits of machinery and lead to a large computer at the back of the room. Felix watches Bucket excitedly, stumbling over the wires as they do, roll to the large computer and started beeping rapidly next to it. Felix can barely tell what they’re saying but he doesn’t need to hear their words to know what they meant. The computer found his family.

As quickly as he could, Felix makes his way over to the computer. He was excited. He didn’t know how long it had been since he had last seen them but he had never lost hope that they were alive. When the Big Break had happened he was scared but he knew that they would be okay. Jisung and Changbin were strong swimmers and with luck had managed to get back to the mainland. Woojin, Minho and Chris had each other so there was no way anything could have happened to them. He lost sight of Jeongin, Hyunjin and Seungmin before he fell but he was certain that they would be fine too. His family was strong, so they must’ve survived.

Felix collapses into his seat at the computer, dropping the crutches to his side, and starts to log in. His hands are still shaking as he searches for what he needs. He opens the program he was using to search for them and nearly starts crying when he sees their locations, alive and well hopefully. Jisung and Changbin were in the Southern Ocean, ‘Islands’ Felix thinks. He pauses in concern over Changbin for a moment. He appeared to be in a dangerous part of the Infinity Storm. ‘Fuck I hope he’s okay’ is all Felix can think as he looks across the screen to find the others. Seungmin and Jeongin were together about five kilometres from the coast of the Wasteland continent. Not a good place to be but at least they had each other. Hyunjin’s location was a bit more concerning as he looked the be at the heart of the Wasteland. ‘What the hell is he doing out there?” He thinks as he stares at the screen. Felix pulls his attention to the Original continent where Minho and Woojin were. He was glad they were together, but where was Chris? He frantically looked over the whole screen and found no indication of him. Felix started to panic.

“No no no no he can’t be gone! He can’t be dead!” He exclaims. He pulls up every possible thing that could show him where the man he considered to be the closest thing to an actual brother he had, but found nothing. A sob comes from the back of Felix’s throat as he starts to cry. Chris was gone and he couldn’t do anything to change that. It hurt him, a lot. All the optimism he had was gone in that moment.

Felix sat there, his head buried into his arms on the desk, for what felt like hours. Eventually he stopped crying and pulled himself up. ‘There’s no use in crying’ he thought to himself ‘you couldn’t save Chris but you can save everyone else.’ He looks back at the computer screen and searched to see who was closest. He almost started crying again, happy tears this time, when he saw that it was Changbin. That’s why Bucket was so excited. They knew Felix loved Changbin more than anything and couldn’t wait to tell him. Felix turned to Bucket, wiping his drying tears as he does, and gives his friend a smile. Bucket beeped happily in response before rolling out of the room. They return minutes later, carefully holding a photograph in their hands. They beeped happily again and handed the photo to Felix.  
“Yeah bud, that’s right, that’s Changbin.”

Felix smiled as he said that. He looked down at the photograph and admired it. He had always loved the photo and would keep it on his shelf in the workshop to remind him of his love. The photo depicted a fifteen year old Changbin, staring off the roof of a building they had been camping out in. It was a candid shot and somehow Felix thought it made him look even more beautiful. The moonlight was reflecting in Changbin’s soft brown hair and made his eyes light up. Felix took the photo only a few short days before the Big Break and he was always reminded of better times when he saw it. He flipped it over and read the inscription that never failed to make him happy,

‘I promise to love you and never let you go.  
Changbin, your prince ♡.’

He smiled at the words. Felix had written a message to match this one on the photo that Changbin had taken of him. He hoped that Changbin still had it. Felix finds himself smiling once more before quickly thanking Bucket and handing them back the photo, which they quickly returned to its spot on the shelf. Turning to face the computer again, Felix gets to work changing course to go to Changbin’s location. It takes him only a few short minutes and soon the course is set. He was going to see his love.

Felix gets up from his seat, grabbing the crutches as he does, and walks out of the room. He’s greeted by one of the cleaners. He glares at them for a moment before making his way down the hall and to one of the exits to the outside. He finds Bucket in the living room on his way and calls for them to join him. Felix hurried to the door and throws it open. The fresh air rushes against his face as he looks out to the beautiful scenery. The grass is just as green as it once was and the few trees were flourishing. The familiar hum of an engine is heard in the background and the shimmer of the atmosphere force field is seen. It was beautiful.

Felix sprawls himself across the grass and takes in the more or less fresh air. Next to him, Bucket rolls over and attempts to mimic Felix’s action. Felix giggles at the sight. Eventually Bucket gives up and just sits where they were next to Felix. The two stay there for a bit before Felix finally asks what he had meant to say since he woke up.

“How long was I asleep?” He asks. Bucket doesn’t respond for a moment before they beep back to Felix.  
“Three years? Wow.” Felix says. Three years of just sleeping while his family survived on without him. Three years of missed opportunities to help and save a life. Three years of going across the new world in a floating island.  
“What’s the date then?” He asks, still shocked on how long it’s been. Bucket responds quickly to his question.  
“September 22nd?” Felix says, “Huh. Happy birthday to Seungmin then.” 

He lay there in the same spot on the grass for the next few hours, asking Bucket questions about what he missed and how the island was doing. Eventually he sat up and looked at the sky ahead. It would take at least two days to reach Changbin’s location and Felix was more than ready. He was excited. He’d finally be able to see his love again and soon after that, his family. They would finally be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m gonna try and update the first seven chapters or so as soon as I finish them before going on a schedule (which will probably be even Wednesday I think) so stay tuned for the next chapter soon!


	4. Chapter 3- City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I miss him, I miss him so much”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer to write then I thought it would oops 
> 
> Chapter warnings: nightmares (is that a warning needed??)

Minho’s heart was pounding out of his chest. He was short of breath and his legs burned as he sprinted across the rooftop. As he reached the end, he launched himself across to the next roof, rolling in his landing, and continued to run. He quickly turned his head back to look for his pursuer only to find them gone. He barely had time to face forwards again before he found himself being tackled to the ground. Minho finds himself momentarily blinded as his bangs fall into his eyes, blocking his view of his pursuer. A gentle hand comes up to his face and, with faint giggling as they do, brushes his hair from his face.

“Gotcha, Beautiful~”  
Minho blushes at the pet name as he looks up at his boyfriend, Woojin. He had pinned Minho to the ground and had his face just inches from Minho’s.  
“No fair you cheated!” Minho exclaimed “You used a shortcut!” Woojin laughs hearing this statement, “Hmm if I recall correctly, you said nothing about no shortcuts my dear.” He says. Minho pouts when hears this and lightly hits Woojin in the chest. “You’re an asshole.” He says. Woojin laughs even more, “Yeah but you love me~” Minho can’t argue at that. He did love his boyfriend more than anything. He can’t help but smile at Woojin lovingly. No matter what he did Minho could never stay mad at him. 

Woojin leans down and captures Minho’s lips in his own. Minho gladly kisses back and loops his arms around Woojin’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. Minho tilts his head and deepens the kiss as Woojin brings his hand up to cup Minho’s cheek. He draws back for a moment and leans down next to his younger boyfriend’s ear. Minho shivers as he feels Woojin’s breath against his neck before he hears him say, “You’re ‘it’, Beautiful” before pushing himself up, off of Minho, and sets off running towards the next roof. Minho lay, unmoving, on his spot on the ground for a moment before fully processing what happened.  
“You asshole!!”

~~~~~~~~

Woojin has been laying in bed(which was actually just a mattress that Minho found while scavenging) when he heard the sound of his boyfriend entering their home on the zip line. They had spent the majority of their afternoon goofing off around the city rooftops and Woojin had challenged Minho to a race back home. He had easily beat his younger boyfriend in the race. Woojin hears Minho part the curtain into their bedroom(which was really just an area that was curtained off from the main living space) and flop down next to him on the bed.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” Minho says, out of breath. Woojin turns to face him and smiles, “It’s all in the shortcuts, My Love.” He says. Minho lets out a whine as Woojin speaks. “That’s what you always say, Sweetheart” Minho says “but you never show me them!” Woojin watches his boyfriend pout and continue to rant about how Woojin never bothered to show him the shortcuts for nearly four years. He caught himself staring and admiring how beautiful Minho was. He just wanted to stare at him all day. His ranting went on for a few minutes before Woojin decided that enough was enough.

“-do you think that I’m gonna use them to cheat in races or something?” Woojin hears the last of Minho’s statement before moving to hover over him. “Look if you’re so hung up about it, I’ll show you the shortcuts tomorrow.” Woojin says, putting his hands on Minho’s cheeks as he does, “but for now, My Love, you should just stop talking about it.” with that, Woojin closes the distance between his and Minho’s lips and kisses him deeply. Minho lets out a muffled gasp in surprise and immediately leans into the kiss. They kiss like that for a few minutes, Minho’s hands digging into Woojin’s back and Woojin’s softly pressing on Minho’s cheeks.

“I love you” Woojin says as he draws back, catching his breath as he does. Minho’s face becomes flushed at those words as he responds, still catching his breath as well, “I love you more.” Woojin finds himself grinning as he hears his boyfriend say that. He buries his face into Minho’s neck and hugs him close. Woojin feels Minho’s arms tighten around him and hears him say, “Tired, Angel?” Woojin simply nods in agreement. He hears Minho’s soft laugh as he gently pushes Woojin off of him and cuddles into his side. Woojin curls an arm around Minho and pulls him in closer.  
“Let’s just sleep okay?” He says  
“Mm okay.”

~~~~~~~~

Minho awakens to the feeling of a cold hard floor beneath him. He pushes himself up and surveys his surroundings. He in what looks to be an abandoned subway station that had partially collapsed. The platform was dark save for a few dimly light flickering emergency lights lining the tracks. He shivers as a cold breeze blows through the tunnel.

Minho stands up in his spot and begins to look around. The place felt familiar but he couldn’t quite place where it was. He walks towards the end of the platform and leans to look down both ends of the tunnel. To both his left and right the tunnel was clear. Several emergency lights had fallen to the right and gave the area an eerie look. At that end, Minho saw a shadow move. Intrigued, he hops down onto the long abandoned tracks and walked towards it. 

“Minho?” He hears someone call out. Minho sees the source and nearly breaks down in tears. It’s Chan. “Chan?” He says, not hesitating to pick up the pace and run towards his other boyfriend. Chan immediately pulls him into a hug. Minho feels the tears start streaming down his face as he hugs back tightly. “I thought you died” he says in between sobs “I thought you left us.” Minho wanted nothing more than to just stand there and hug Chan for hours. “I know baby” Chan says “I know and I’m so sorry I scared you both like that I-”

Chan’s sentence is cut off by a tremor that shook throughout the whole tunnel. Minho feels him let go from their hug and sees him take a step back. The tremor becomes more powerful, parts of the wall start crumbling away and hitting the floor. “Chan, we need to get out of here” Minho says, tugging at Chan’s sweater sleeve “it’s not safe anymore, we-” he’s cut off as the tremor powerfully rocks through the tunnel again as a large crevice tears through the floor. The floor splits between the two of them and Minho finds himself being knocked away from Chan.

“NO!” He screams as he scrambles to grasp for his boyfriends hand but to no avail. All Minho can do is watch as the floor opens up beneath Chan and swallows him into the darkness below, being locked in by the now caved in ceiling.

~~~~~~~~

Woojin is awoken in the early hours of the next day to the feeling of thrashing next to him in bed. He’s quick to turn his body to face its source, Minho. The younger mans expression is pained as he grabs fistfuls of the blanket once covering him. It pains Woojin to see him like this. He extends a hand and begins to lightly shake Minho’s shoulder, 

“Minho wake up, it’s just a nightmare.” He says in an effort to wake up his boyfriend. Seconds later Minho’s eyes snap open, tears beginning to stream down from them. Woojin doesn’t hesitate for a second as he pulls Minho into a hug.

The two lay there unmoving for a few minutes, Minho sobbing into Woojin’s chest and Woojin gently rubbing his back, speaking soft words as he does. As Minho’s crying lessens, he finally speaks.

“I s-saw him” he stutters out, “I saw C-Chan” Woojin feels like crying too when he hears those words leave his boyfriends lips. It’d had been nearly four years since their boyfriend had been taken from them and it still hurt just to think about him.

It was during the Final Tremors that Chan and Minho has been exploring an abandoned subway station at the edge of the city, near the cliff that dropped off into a large lake. Woojin was alone at their temporary camp when he felt the tremors start. He had begun to panic when he realized where his boyfriends were and immediately ran to find them. 

He had just reached the entrance to the subway when he saw Minho stumbling out, his hand pressed against a wound on his arm. Woojin was quick to steady the younger boy. When he asked what happened and where Chan was, all Minho could say was “It took him from us.”

Woojin feels tears well up in his eyes as he thinks back to that day. He sees Minho look up to face him, tears still streaming down his face. 

“I miss him” Minho say, still crying as he does “I miss him so much.” It hurts to hear Minho say these words, it hurts so much. Woojin can only hug Minho close again and try his best to cry as well.

As Woojin hears Minho’s crying die down he begins to sing in a hope to help the younger man sleep.

“There are those who'll tell you you're wrong 

 

They will try to to silence your song 

 

But right here is where you belong 

 

So don't search anymore”

Woojin’s soft voice echoes around the room, giving it a calming atmosphere. As he continues the song, he can hear Minho’s breathing slow slightly as he begins to drift back asleep. Woojin switches to humming the lyrics and soon enough Minho has fallen back to sleep.

He wipes away the tears that had stained Minho’s face and gently kissed his forehead. The pain of seeing him in pain was almost unbearable for Woojin. He never wanted to see him like that again. He settles onto his back and draws Minho in close. The two needed sleep and Woojin knew it. He shuts his eyes and leans his head back into the pillow.

“I’ll always protect you no matter what.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Woojin was singing is Wanderers Lullaby by Adriana Figueroa (thanks for showing me it Chey)
> 
> The next chapter will probably be out late tomorrow


	5. Chapter 4- Under

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time changed me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this all in first person and I think it was more or less successful?
> 
> Chapter warnings: minor mention of injuries (I didn’t go too into detail though)

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve last seen the sun. Months? Years? I don’t think I’ll ever know. I don’t think I want to know. 

I spend my days in the dark, spent so much time here that my eyes have adjusted and I can see fine. It becomes a hassle on occasion though. I still find myself tripping over unseen stones and ledges during my daily treks.

There are occasional moments of light in the tunnels though. Those slivers of light are worth more than anything. Gives me a glimpse of how I’ve changed. If I’m lucky, I find a clear pool of water or a piece of glass to catch my reflection in.

Time changed me. My skin has become pale and sickly, looks nothing like it did before. My hair always seems more limp than it once was, my curls never looking quite like they once did. The moments of light I have give me a moment to try and fix my appearance. I take time to crudely cut my hair and wash away the grime covering my face. I always take a look at myself, thinking if it was worth the risk to go to a dangerous area to find more light. Maybe then I’ll finally recognize the guy I see in my reflection.

~~~~~~~~

I can’t remember the last time I slept. The darkness gives no way to what time of day it possibly could be. My body just moves on autopilot now. Sleep when sleep is needed and wander the tunnels for an exit, it’s always that. That’s what I’m doing now, feeling the wall next to me as I traverse the tunnels that hold me captive.

Today is like any other, no progress made in my futile search for an exit. I let out a string of curses as my eyes miss a ledge and I topple over into to five foot drop. I hit the ground below on my side and can already feel the damage. A clear popping sound echoes around the corridor. Dislocated my shoulder, again. 

Using my good arm I push myself up from the ground. I barely hesitate to reach up and force my shoulder back into its socket. It hurts like a bitch but it’s nothing I haven’t felt before. I pause for a moment once it’s relocated and extend a cautious hand out to inspect my bad leg. I definitely felt something there when I fell. 

Nothing broken. Thank God. Gently, I extend both my legs out and hear the familiar sounds of my bad leg. I’m certain that no matter what I do, that leg will never be the same again. My fall down into the tunnels had broken me horribly.

After I check myself over for any other injuries, I get up from the ground. After a quick search for my backpack, that I dropped in the fall, I continue my trek. 

Chances are I won’t find anything today. Just like every other time. Always searching only to find nothing. Searching until my body can no longer take the strain of being awake. Maybe today I’ll get lucky and call it quits before I pass out and hurt myself. Wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.

~~~~~~~~

I don’t know how much time has passed, I’m hoping only a few hours. My trek has taken me to a new section of tunnels. Must’ve been exposed by some falling rocks. I know not to get my hopes up though. New tunnels don’t mean escape, if anything, it means I’ll get lost even more. But that doesn’t matter now, I just gotta keep trying.

I run my hand across the wall as I walk. Suddenly my hand brushes up against something new, something metal. Immediately I stop and crouch down to inspect my finding. My breath hitches as I figure out what it is. It’s a door.

Hope surges through me as I scramble to open it. It takes a moment with only one arm but I pry it open. I peer through the door. It exits into a subway tunnel that is dimly lit by emergency lights. It was so similar to the one I had fallen through to begin with. Both ends of the tunnel seemed to be blocked. This brings down my hope for a moment before I see it.  
A service door.

In seconds I’m across to it and opening it up. I almost want to cry when I see a ladder going upwards on the other side. It had to lead to an exit, it had to. I struggle for a moment to climb up but soon I’m almost to the top. This could be it, this could be what I’ve been searching for.

I reach the top of the ladder and find another door. I immediately try to open it but to no avail. I desperately push at it, shoving with my good shoulder and kicking at it for good measure. The door opens just a crack and I see bright sunlight shine through. It’s an exit, I actually found a safe one. I continue to push at the door and soon enough there’s enough space for me to squeeze through. 

Partially blinded by the bright sunlight, I push my way through the space. As I do I hear the sound of shifting rocks. I push that thought away and tumble to the he other side of the door. I’m out, I’m free and I can finally go home. The sounds of shifting rocks becomes louder and I feel dust begin to fall on my face. I don’t need to use my eyes to know what’s happening and to know that I have to run. It’s a cave in.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo how’d you guys like that??


	6. Chapter 5- Autumn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because it was made by you!”
> 
> “God you’re so cheesy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me way longer then I thought it would but it’s done now and I’m happy!
> 
> Chapter warnings: brief mention of death, gun(also pretty brief)

Jeongin was thirteen years old when he woke up in a warm bed in a treehouse in the middle of the woods. He never really remembered the details of how he had gotten there but he did know one thing, Seungmin had brought him there and saved him. So he never bothered asking many questions and decided he’d trust what Seungmin told him. He was told the world split apart and the two of them ended up on a continent with wayward seasons. Their particular living area had been in a perpetual state of autumn since they arrived and Jeongin loved it.

Jeongin had just turned fourteen when he realized he had a crush. He found it hard to keep a secret as Seungmin was his only companion and saw him nearly every day. It only took a few short months before Seungmin figured out his crush and Jeongin soon realized that his feelings weren’t just one sided. A few confessions later and he was dating Seungmin. Actually dating him. Jeongin could never be any happier.

He’s now seventeen years old and life was great for him. He had a comfortable home, a boyfriend who loved him and a peaceful place to live out his days. Jeongin never wanted that to change.

~~~~~~~~

The forest is a peaceful and tranquil place as Jeongin walks down the beaten trail between the trees. It’s a path he’s walked many times and it’s easily traversed. 

Jeongin had snuck out of the house early that morning. He was careful to not wake Seungmin, he didn’t want the older boy to wake up and find what he was up to. It was a surprise for his birthday anyways. As he had left this morning, Jeongin had left a small gift box and a note next to their shared bed. He hoped that Seungmin would like what he had given him.

The older boy in question usually had no interest in celebrating his birthday, he’d rather spoil Jeongin on his instead. As much as Jeongin enjoyed what his boyfriend would do each year for him he still felt like Seungmin deserved at least some kind of celebration.

Jeongin continued his way down the path, nearing the border of their camp as he does. He had no intention of crossing the border though. He was out hunting, a bow in hand and a quiver filled with arrows strapped to his back. He knew there were some deer out by the border and was intent on getting one.

The silence is suddenly broken by the sound of something moving through the bushes a few meters ahead of Jeongin. He just barely caught a glimpse of what it was, a deer. It was just his luck. He carefully crept up to where he saw the movement. He crouched down in front of the bush and peered through.

On the other side there was a clearing and the deer was stopped in the middle. It was a clear shot. As quietly as possible, Jeongin pulls an arrow from the quiver and begins to draw it back in the bow. The deer was unmoving as he begins to take aim.

“Whatcha’ up to Babe?” Jeongin is startled by the sudden voice behind him. Accidentally, he lets the arrow loose and it goes flying past the deer. The creature was spooked and it disappeared back into the trees.

“Seungmin!” Jeongin shrieks, “What the hell?!” He turns around in his spot and sure enough there was his boyfriend, Seungmin, grinning. Jeongin is unsure if he should be surprised or upset by him showing up suddenly. Seungmin usually didn’t enjoy getting up early so this was definitely a surprise. 

“Sorry” Seungmin says to him sheepishly, “I just wanted to join you.” Jeongin can see he was really sorry but still couldn’t help but want to be angry.

“I had a clear shot!” He exclaims, “But now it’s gone!” Jeongin begins to pout after his statement. He had really wanted to do something perfect for Seungmin but now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to. Seungmin could clearly see how upset he was. The older boy pulled Jeongin up from the ground and hugged him.

“Sorry Baby” Seungmin says, “I really didn’t mean to make you miss.” Jeongin struggles to stay mad at his boyfriend for long as the older boy looks at him pleadingly. “O-okay fine” He says, trying to look away from Seungmin’s gaze “I just- I just wanted to do something for you.”

“Babe you know you don’t have to do that.” Seungmin says to him, “Being with you is the best gift I could have.” Jeongin feels his face heat up as Seungmin says that.   
“But I still want to do something..” he says. Seungmin giggles as Jeongin says this.

“If you were so intent on cooking something you should have at least told me silly.” Seungmin says. Jeongin’s expression is confused as he hears this.

“Wait how’d you know I was cooking something?” Seungmin starts laughing when Jeongin says this.

“Well” Seungmin says, still laughing as he does “You’re not exactly subtle in what you’re planning Babe.” Jeongin knew he was right, he had always been bad at keeping a secret.

“Okay I get it” he says, “you figured it out but now I can’t even do it because you scared away dinner.” He looks away from Seungmin as he says this. All he wanted was to make this a perfect birthday for him. 

“Well” Seungmin says, pulling Jeongin’s face gently towards him “if you really want to make dinner, we can go set some rabbit traps. It’s not deer but it’ll taste just as good, okay?” Jeongin still isn’t quite happy with that.

“But it won’t taste the same” he pouts, “I’ll probably mess it up..” Jeongin tries to pull his gaze away from Seungmin. The older boy had gasped loudly after Jeongin had said that.

“Baby no matter what you make” Seungmin says “it’ll always taste amazing, you know why?” Jeongin sighs and shakes his head, “Why?”

“Because it was made by you!”

“God you’re so cheesy!”

~~~~~~~~

It’s hours later and Jeongin is standing at the kitchen counter preparing the ingredients for the meal. Behind him, Seungmin lay on their shared bed. Jeongin could hear the sounds of charcoal scraping against paper. Seungmin was drawing again and he was certain he could guess what it was he was drawing. Occasionally the clicking of rocks could be heard as Seungmin toys with the necklace Jeongin had given him just a few hours earlier.

Jeongin becomes so absorbed in his work that he doesn’t notice his boyfriend getting up from the bed and walking up behind him. Jeongin nearly drops the knife in his hand as he feels Seungmin’s hands snake around his waist. The older boy rests his head on Jeongin’s shoulder and looks over at his work.

“How’s it going over here?” Seungmin says. Jeongin has to take a moment to calm his rising heartbeat from the initial shock of Seungmin scaring him like that.

“Uhh well” he says “it’s going pretty good….I think” Jeongin isn’t really sure that the whole meal will work like he planned but he hopes it’ll be okay. Next to Jeongin’s ear, Seungmin lets out an adorable squeal.

“See I told you it’d be great!” He exclaims. Jeongin can feel himself blushing intensely as Seungmin compliments him. His face becomes even more red when Seungmin presses a sloppy kiss to his cheek.

“S-seungmin!” Jeongin exclaims. Though there’s no one else there he can’t help but feel embarrassed. They’ve been dating for almost three years and yet it still feels like a short time.

“What is it Babe?” Seungmin says, pressing another kiss to Jeongin’s cheek and gently pulling him closer. Certain that he would hurt himself if he kept it up, Jeongin puts down his knife and turns to face Seungmin. The older boy was flashing his beautiful smile and honesty looked so beautiful. Jeongin could feel himself blush even more just looking at how beautiful he was.

In a brief moment of courage, Jeongin leans in and kisses Seungmin. Jeongin’s hands travel to cup his boyfriend’s face as the he gently kisses back. Jeongin can feel Seungmin smiling into the kiss and can’t help but let out a muffled giggle. They part only a few moments later and Seungmin is grinning once more, Jeongin too.

“You know I love you right?” Jeongin says.

“Of course I do, Baby, of course I do.”

~~~~~~~~

It’s late that night when Seungmin is awoken by the sounds of clanging echoing throughout the forest.  
‘Fuck, someone saw the door.’ Is all he can think as he gently eases himself off the bed, careful not to wake Jeongin as he does. The younger boy may be a deep sleeper but he still won’t take any chances. 

He carefully creeps over to the corner of the room and, as quietly as possible, pries up on of the floorboards. He reaches into the darkness below the floor and grabs what he needs.   
A pistol.

He checks to see how many bullets he has and walks towards the door. He gently slips on his shoes and runs off into the southern side of the forest.

The trees are illuminated by the bright moon as Seungmin runs quickly through them. He completely bypasses the camps border and continues to the source of the sound. He had meant to go out early that morning to fix the malfunctioning doors camouflage but Jeongin had taken his attention from that.

His pace slows as he reaches the door. Sure enough on the other side there was a person. A wasteland scavenger, similar to the ones that had taken Hyunjin in front of him. The man was dressed in ragged clothes with a long scarf wrapped around his neck. His arms were exposed and showed the acid scars running down them. He had a rock and was bashing at the now exposed door.

As Seungmin approaches the door, the man spots him and begins to yell at him. His words are mostly muffled but Seungmin can easily pick out the words ‘you fucker’ and ‘horder’. It’s fairly clear to Seungmin that the man doesn’t like him.

Carefully, Seungmin approaches the door and unlocks it. He steps back as the lock begins to turn. Moments later the door swings open and the man comes barging in. 

“So you think you can keep this all to yourself?” The man yells at him, “Well listen here you fucker you won’t have this fo-” The man is cut off by three bullets hitting him. Two to the chest and one to the head. 

Seungmin sighs and lowers his gun. He had no room for mercy with people like this. They were savage and would never do any good for his home. They took Hyunjin and that had terrified him. He’d never let that happen to him or Jeongin. Never.

Seungmin shoves the body out the open door and locks it shut again. The rain will take care of it before long. After the door is shut, he quickly fixes the camouflage. As soon as it’s fixed, he heads back to his home.

When he gets to the door, Seungmin tucks the gun into the waistbands one the side of his pants and pulls his shirt over it. If Jeongin was awake he couldn’t have him see it. That’d be too much explaining. 

Once certain that Jeongin wasn’t awake, Seungmin slips the gun back into its hiding spot under the floorboards. After that’s done, he walks back to the bed and lays down. Immediately Jeongin cuddles into his side and Seungmin wraps an arm around him. 

He never wanted this to change, this happiness. That’s why he had to keep the dome intact. Then Jeongin would always be happy and Seungmin would never have to see him in pain ever again. Never again like the Big Break, like losing their family. It’d all be okay.

They’d both be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaaa~  
> How did you guys like that?


	7. Chapter 6- Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the hell..?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was pretty interesting to write 
> 
> Chapter warnings: use of guns, death

“You can’t hold out forever you brat!”  
“Open the god damn door!”  
“I know you can hear me, you fucker!”  
“Let me in!”

Hyunjin sighs as he lays in his small cot. The scavenger outside had woken him an hour earlier and was persistently trying to get inside. 

Hyunjin was tempted to open the door and just get rid of the guy but he knew that was a bad idea. There was no point in making more enemies out in the wasteland. He’d killed enough people and there was quite a few others who would love him to be dead. The killing was weighing down on him and it was bound to come back at him eventually. Everything always does.

Instead, Hyunjin chooses to stay put in bed. The day had barely started and he wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon. He runs his hand through his hair, feeling the undercut that had begun to grow out. He’d have to cut it later, after the scavenger is gone.

The yelling from outside continued and only got louder. It was starting to get on Hyunjin’s nerves. The gun sitting across the room was starting to get really tempting.

“Why don’t you just fuck off?!” Hyunjin yells, “You know you’ll never get in! Just give up!” The man goes silent for a moment before continuing his attempts to enter. This only served to piss Hyunjin off even more. He wished he could just get in the front seat of the truck and just run the guy over at this point but he couldn’t. The engines charge had been depleted the previous night and the sun had yet to come up so the solar panels couldn’t charge it. It would be at least an hour until the sun rose and Hyunjin just wanted it to come quicker.

Almost an hour passes by and he could finally see the first rays of sunlight on the horizon. The clanging against the door had persisted throughout the whole time. The man’s insults had persisted as well. Hyunjin was fed up. Despite his personal rules about opening the door for people, Hyunjin walked over to the door and grabbed a gun before opening it.

He barely gave the man any time to process his presence before unloading the whole clip into him. Hyunjin knew it was dumb to waste so many bullets but he didn’t care, he was to irritated. As soon as the man dropped to the ground, Hyunjin shut the door and locked it. He didn’t usually kill scavengers trying to get in but this guy had gotten on his nerves. 

“Fucking asshole.”

~~~~~~~~

It takes four hours before the trucks power levels are sufficient enough so Hyunjin can leave. The area he had stopped in had become dangerous and he wasn’t interested in having another incident like that morning. He wasn’t interested in having a situation like that escalate. He had already dealt with a situation like that four years ago and didn’t want it to happen again.

It had been only a few days since the Big Break and he had been camping out with Seungmin and an unconscious Jeongin. He didn’t quite know what happened at first but he soon had processed that someone was taking him away. His kidnappers had tied him up in the back of the very truck he now drove and had started off towards their camp.

Hyunjin didn’t know what they were planning then but he had known it wouldn’t be anything good. He had managed to escape from his bonds and ended up killing the two men who took him. It was the first time he had killed and it had terrified him. Once he had gotten the majority of the blood off of him, Hyunjin had attempted to drive the truck back to where Seungmin was with Jeongin.

It had taken him a week to find his way back and when he returned, his two friends were gone. He had assumed the two were taken too. Hyunjin spent the rest of those years trying to find them. Yet, every wasteland colony he searched he never found them. He soon came to think they were dead. Hyunjin was never going to let that happen to him. He was gonna get out of the wasteland alive.

~~~~~~~~

It’s later that afternoon and Hyunjin has traveled a good distance. He estimates that he’s at least five kilometres away from the coast. The coast would be a good place to park for the next few days. The acid rain is more persistent the closer to the coast. He’d finally get a little peace and have no more scavengers bothering him. Maybe he’ll be able to get some work done around the truck.

The path ahead is clear and driving goes smoothly as he urges the truck forwards. He knows he’ll have to stop soon though. The bandages around his arm needed to be changed. The burns he had received a few weeks earlier, thanks to an incident with the rain, had been painful and have been taking a long time to even show signs of healing. 

Hyunjin figures he can drive for a little bit longer before he has to make time to change the bandages. He’d rather be in a safer area to stop. 

Hyunjin lets out a loud curse as the truck suddenly slams into something. As the dust clears he’s able to see what he hit.

“What the hell..?” He mutters to himself as he tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. Ahead of him, Hyunjin sees a cluster of trees. He’d never seen a tree in the wasteland so it just didn’t make sense. He can’t even tell what he hit.

After weighing his options for a moment, Hyunjin gets up from the driver’s seat, pulls on his scarf and goggles and heads out of the truck to find out what happened. He finds himself even more confused when he walks out. The trees he saw were behind a semi opaque wall that seemed to come from nowhere. Next to was a thick glass door that was now cracked and partially opened. 

Hyunjin quickly goes back to the truck and grabs his gun with a new clip of bullets and his knife. He wanted to know exactly what he found was but he wasn’t going to go in unprepared. He walks back to the door and, cautiously, pushes it open.

The air inside is warm and Hyunjin is immediately hit with a nice breeze. The trees around were beautiful, all shades of red and orange. The sky was clear and the sun was no longer a dangerous ray burning anyone who stayed out for too long. It was beautiful but impossible. Nothing like this is able to exist in the wasteland, none of it made sense.

He continues through the trees, still trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing, when he heard a sound ahead of him. Immediately, Hyunjin draws his gun and points it towards the sounds source. It could be nothing but he wasn’t taking any chances.

He’s surprised when a boy, who looked a bit younger than Hyunjin, walked out from the bushes with a bow drawn. The boy was thin, had fox-like eyes and dark hair. He looked surprised to see Hyunjin. Slowly, the boy lowers his bow and looks to be on the verge of tears.

“Hyunjin?” He says and that’s when Hyunjin realizes who he’s looking at. It’s Jeongin. He lowers his gun and quietly says,

“Jeongin, is that you?” Just as he says that, Jeongin suddenly bursts into tears and lets out a loud cry. Hyunjin can’t move as Jeongin suddenly collapses to the ground . Hyunjin is frozen, staring at the boy who he thought was dead. Is this where he’s been all these years? Where was Seungmin then? Hyunjin was confused and terrified at the fact that Jeongin had just passed out. 

He shakes himself out of his trance like state and started walking towards Jeongin, hoping to try and help him. He was about five feet away from the younger boy when the bushes shake and another person comes barging out. It was Seungmin, no doubt about it.

Seungmin immediately saw Jeongin and dropped to his knees next to the boy. Hyunjin found himself frozen again as tears start to spill down Seungmin’s face. He has Jeongin in his arms and was trying to wake the boy. Seungmin sees Hyunjin and for a moment Hyunjin thinks he recognizes him. That moment is gone when Seungmin pulls out a gun and points it at Hyunjin while yelling,

“Who are you?! Get the fuck away from him!”

Hyunjin stepped back a bit, shocked. How could his best friend not have recognized him? What had happened? He barely has time to open his mouth to speak when Seungmin suddenly pulls the trigger on his gun.

//BANG//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....I’ll just leave y’all with this
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	8. Chapter 7- Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was a survivor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones a little short but I kinda wanted it that way
> 
> Chapter warnings: none!(:

The water around him was clear and shimmering as Jisung dove into the reef below. Fish swim around him as he swims down deeper, his fishing spear in hand. It was one of his daily fishing trips in the reefs that always had fish in them to eat.

This daily ritual was a calming one and one that Jisung enjoyed greatly. It never failed to make Jisung happy. Happiness was something he cherished greatly, especially when he’s been on a boat alone for almost three years. 

His former crew mate, an elderly man named John, had passed away three years earlier and it still made Jisung sad just thinking about him. The man had pulled Jisung from the water after he was swept away in the Big Break. John nursed him back to health and had become a good companion. It was John that convinced him that he had no reason to fear the water, that he wouldn’t be swept away again. 

Now three years later, Jisung spends as much time in the water and on the boats deck as he can. His time spent in the sun had tanned his skin greatly and bleached his hair to a blonde colour. His time swimming is the water had taught him to hold his breath for a long time and gave him fishing skills that helped keep him alive. He was now a powerful swimmer and a talented hunter, two things Jisung valued more than anything.

He kicks his feet and swims down deeper into the reef in search of more fish. There was always a lot hiding down in the rocks and Jisung was intent on catching those. He often gave himself a challenge when he went hunting and this was just one of them. 

It takes a few tries but, Jisung eventually manages to spear a few fish. Happy with the catches, he swims back up towards the surface and heads towards his boat. When he gets back, Jisung places the fish in a cooler on the deck and his spear by the door to below deck. After everything is where it needs to be, he turns back towards that water and takes a running dive in. 

~~~~~~~~

It’s an hour later when Jisung finally comes out of the water. It was only a short time he spent swimming but he knew he’d be back later in the day. It had become addictive, swimming in the water and seeing all the beauties it held, Jisung would never get enough of it.

He walks over to a chair on deck and grabs a towel resting on it. After more or less drying himself off, Jisung grabs the cooler with the fish and heads below deck. He’d have one of the fish in his lunch and the other for dinner. It’s not anything fancy but it tastes good so that all that matters.

After he finishes making his lunch, Jisung goes back up to the deck and sits in one of the chairs. The scene is peaceful, the breeze lightly blowing across the deck and the sounds of the waves is calming. On the horizon he can see the Infinity Storm raging. Two weeks earlier he had a close call with the storm when the boats engine suddenly stopped working. Jisung has started to panic when he realized the boat was drifting towards the storm. His panic had lasted all of five minutes before common sense came in and reminded him that he had an anchor.

The boat was now anchored over a colourful reef filled with a variety of sea creatures. The situation wasn’t ideal but Jisung made the most of it. He had survived four years so he was sure he’d be able to make it. He didn’t need the boat to move to survive. He knew that eventually he’d fix the engine anyways so that didn’t concern him. He was a survivor and would figure his way out of any bad situation if he had to. 

The boat was his paradise that would always be good. He’d make sure it stayed that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna start up a schedule for this now. I’m thinking Wednesday’s and Sunday’s but we’ll see how it goes.
> 
> How’d you guys like that?


	9. Chapter 8- Leaving You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey Binnie, you promise you’ll protect me forever, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay early posting!!
> 
> Chapter warnings: none!(:

The rain was the only thing to be heard as Changbin lay in his bed. It served as a grim reminder of his fate. It had been just two days since the water had broken through the lower levels. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the entire house was overtaken, drowning him along with it.

Yet Changbin didn’t care. He knew there was no way he’d be able to escape his fate. He’d rather spend his time doing nothing rather than try and save himself. It’d just be better if he gave up, there was no point in trying.

So he spent his time laying in bed wearing sweatpants, ignoring the cold and occasionally getting up to eat food from the kitchen. Changbin would sometimes look down at the photograph clutched in his hands and try to think of better times. Try to forget the fact that he’s dying.

The photo had been taken during one of his last dates with Felix. The younger boy had been so excited, so happy to be able to spend time with Changbin. Though they couldn’t do much, as the world wasn’t exactly safe, Changbin made the most of their situation. He had taken his boyfriend to a nearby lake, where they had spent their time swimming and playing around. Changbin had never seen Felix so happy before. 

It had been near the end of the day, when Changbin was laying down on the ground by the lake, that Felix had run off. A few minutes later, the younger boy had returned with a large bouquet of multi coloured flowers. Changbin had blushed at the sudden gift and could barely speak. He never failed to become speechless over Felix’s kind gestures.

It was that moment that Changbin had taken the photo. Felix’s hands extended towards him, a huge smile spread across his face, adorable. Felix had momentarily gotten flustered as Changbin took the photo, a dark blush spreading across his face. It had only served to make him look even more adorable in Changbin’s eyes.

Soon after that the two had returned to their groups momentary living space, an abandoned building away from town, and had spent the night on the roof. They had taken a few blankets up with them and decided they would cuddle and watch the stars. 

They had lay there in silence for the most part, Felix’s back pressed into Changbin’s chest and Changbin playing with Felix’s fingers. It was calming and peaceful. The silence though, had been broken when Felix had suddenly spoken.

“Hey Binnie,” he had said softly, “you promise you’ll protect me forever, right?” Changbin was shocked by his sudden question. The shock had only lasted a moment though, before a small smile spread onto his face and he responded with, “Of course, my Star, of course I will.”

As Changbin thought back on this moment, he couldn’t help but know that he had broken that promise he made. He had lost Felix in the Big Break forever, he had failed to protect him. It broke Changbin’s heart.

Changbin was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice the tears starting to stream down his face. It was a strange feeling, after spending the past two days ignoring all his emotions. After blocking them for all that time, they all came rushing out in one moment. Changbin found himself uncontrollably crying, tears pouring down his cheeks as he clutches Felix’s photo close.

“I’m s-sorry” he chokes out in between sobs, “I’m s-so sorry I f-failed you.” 

~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Changbin has finally calmed down from his crying. He now lay on his on his back in the middle of his bed, Felix’s photo laying next to him. He shivers from the cold air flowing from the room but, he doesn’t care.

As time passes, Changbin finally decides to get up. He completely bypasses the sweater resting on the floor by his bed and instead pulls his blanket from his bed and wraps it around him. He walks to where the kitchen is and pulls out a box of cereal from the cabinet. He doesn’t even bother putting it in a bowl, just opens the box and pulls cereal out by hand. He slumps against the wall and slides to the floor. There’s no reason to go to the living room, it would only remind him of his situation.

The room once again is only filled with the sounds of rain slamming against the windows, a grim reminder. Changbin slowly eats the cereal from the box as he sits in silence. The whole room is cold and dark, only occasionally lit up by flashes of lightning from the outside storm. 

The constant sound though, is suddenly broken by something Changbin hasn’t heard in a long time. The sound of the balconies glass door sliding open. Shocked and confused by it, Changbin immediately jumps up from the floor and rushes to the living room where the door was. As he quickly goes over, his blanket falls from his shoulders but, it goes unnoticed to him. He was too intrigued by this sudden change.

When he gets into the living room, Changbin sees a figure standing in the dark of the room by the door. The person looks to be a bit taller than him but past that, Changbin could see nothing in the dark. Then suddenly, for just a moment, lightning flashes throughout the room and illuminates the figure.

It’s a boy, he looks to be a bit younger than Changbin. He’s thin and has pale looking skin. His muddled pale brown hair is tugged into a low ponytail. His eyes are wide, his mouth open in shock. The feature that stands out most though, the feature that brings so many memories to Changbin, is the galaxy of pale freckles spread across the boys face.

“Binnie?” Changbin hears from across the room. He almost lets out a sob when he hears his nickname. He doesn’t need to even think for long to know who it is. It’s got to be Felix, it’s got to be. 

“Felix?” Changbin whispers, “Please tell me that’s actually you, please tell me you’re real. I don’t want this to all be a dream. I don’t want you to be really gone.” Changbin can feel the tears pricking at his eyes as he says this. He doesn’t want this to be him hallucinating or dreaming, he’d be devastated if it was.

“I’m real,” Felix says from across the room, “I’m really here, my Prince.” It’s at the sound of those words that Changbin can no longer take it. He runs across the room and pulls Felix into a tight hug. He can feel himself crying but it doesn’t matter, all that matters is that Felix is here and he’s certain he’s not dreaming. 

Felix hugs him back with equal strength and starts to cry a bit. Changbin feels his tears spilling onto his bare shoulder but he doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter anymore. 

Momentarily, Felix pulls back from their hug and gently cups Changbin’s cheek. Changbin is confused for a moment before Felix leans in and presses his lips against Changbin’s. Changbin lets out a gasp of surprise into the kiss but quickly leans into it, his hands pulling at Felix’s shirt in a desperate attempt to pull the boy closer. This was the first time they had kissed, ever, and Changbin was surprised by it. 

Seconds later, Felix pulls back from the kiss and says, “I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I met you.”  
Changbin can still feel his tears streaming as his face starts to heat up from Felix’s words.

“W-what happened to y-you? I t-thought you-” Changbin is unable to finish his sentence before he breaks down into a fit of sobbing. All he can do is clutch onto Felix’s shirt and cries into the fabric. Felix hugs the older boy tightly and lets him cry.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I left you.” Is all he can say as he rubs Changbin’s back in an effort to calm him. 

It takes a few minutes but soon enough, Changbin’s crying dies down and he’s left with just holding Felix tight to him as if he could disappear at any moment.

“I thought you died, where did you go?” Is all he manages to say. 

Felix pauses a moment before responding with,  
“I got pulled to the north continent. I only managed to get out of there when I stole the island from a military facility that was still open. I spent a year trying to find you guys but the program I created was taking a long time. I decided I’d put myself into a coma because I’d definitely not have enough resources to last long without making stops. It also seemed like a good way to pass time quicker. I only woke up two days ago when the computer had found everyone.”

“What do you mean island?” Is all Changbin can think to say after Felix finishes his explanation. He’s got so many questions but that one seemed to stand out the most.

“I kinda have this giant floating island that I travel on now..” Felix says.

“Oh that’s cool.” Changbin says.

Felix looks him in the eyes for a moment and gently wipes the tears away from his face. Up close now, Changbin can really see Felix’s face and see how much he had changed over the course of four years. 

His face was thinner now, his freckles faded slightly and his skin was definitely paler. His hair was unevenly cut and most of it was pulled into a loose ponytail. Changbin had always knew Felix was cute before but now, now he looked even more beautiful. He was like an angel.

Felix leans in again and presses a feather light kiss to Changbin’s lips before saying,  
“You’ll come with me right?”

Changbin doesn’t hesitate for a moment before answering,  
“Of course, I’m never leaving you again.” 

Felix breaks into a smile, one that has Changbin nearly breathless, and pulls the older boy into a hug.  
“Grab anything you need then, we’ll leave now.” 

Changbin nods before quickly running to his room. He pulls his sweater on and puts on his work boots. He’s about to leave before he remembers one last thing. He walks back over to his bed and grabs Felix’s photo. He’d never want to leave that behind.

He walks back to the living room where Felix is waiting for him. As he approaches his boyfriend, he quickly gives him a peck on the lips before entwining his hand with his. Felix smiles at Changbin and starts walking out the door, pulling the other boy with him. Outside, the island was set down on the water next to the house. Changbin’s eyes widen in shock at the sight. Felix giggles when he sees the boys reaction.

“Come on” Felix says, tugging Changbin out into the rain with him, “we gotta go get everyone else.” 

Changbin smiles and follows after his boyfriend. He still couldn’t believe this was all real. He was scared that he’d just wake up back in bed, alone. He didn’t want this to be a dream. But somehow, he knew it was real. Somehow he knew he was finally escaping.

He made himself a new promise in that moment.   
He’d never leave Felix again, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally didn’t cry a bit while writing this. I swear I didn’t...  
> How’d you guys like it??


	10. Chapter 9- Scissors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You look absolutely gorgeous, my Star.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones super short but I like it. It’s cute.
> 
> Chapter warnings: none:)

Felix stares at his reflection in the mirror of his bathroom. Behind the closed door, he can hear the sounds of Bucket beeping loudly in an attempt to catch Felix’s attention. 

“You know there’s no stopping me bud.” Felix sighs. He had woken up that morning with a plan. He had to cut his hair. As happy as he was that Bucket had cut it while he was asleep, the overall job just wouldn’t do. As soon as he mentioned to his companion that he was cutting it, Felix was met with a flurry of distressed beeps. Bucket wasn’t all for the change to their work and was desperate to stop Felix.

As much as he needed to do it, Felix was getting second thoughts. He knew he needed to cut his hair but it hurt to hear Bucket so upset. They had been so proud of their work and Felix knew that this would ruin it. But he had to, his hair was too hard to manage in the state it was in. He hears more protests from Bucket and sighs,

“Look I’m sorry, okay?” He says through the door, “I know you worked hard but I gotta change it.” Bucket continues to try and protest against Felix’s actions. Sighing, Felix takes one last look at himself in the mirror before saying,

“Okay, if I let you do it next time will you let me do it this time?” Bucket pauses for a moment before chirping back a response.

“Thanks bud” Felix says and opens the door to let Bucket in. “You can watch, so you can learn for next time.” Bucket immediately respond happily at Felix’s words.

“Yeah but I’m still not letting you touch the clippers!”

~~~~~~~~

Changbin wakes up to find the space next to him in bed empty. He’s tangled up in the blankets with the warm sun from a nearby window beaming down on him.

‘Felix must’ve already gotten up.” He thinks to himself and he gets up from the bed. It’d only been a day since Felix had rescued him from the house and Changbin still was trying to get used to being back with his boyfriend. He hadn’t felt this happy in years.

The floor beneath his bare feet is no longer a cold tile and the room isn’t cold either. Changbin finds no need to wrap himself in a blanket or thick sweater. So he pulls himself up from the bed and, not bothering to put on the sweater laying at the edge of the bed, walks out of the room in search of Felix.

Just as he steps out from the room, Changbin hears the sound of the shower being turned off. Felix must’ve been showering. Instead of just standing around to wait, he walks out into the living room and flops down onto the couch.

A ten minutes later, Changbin hears the bathroom door swing open. He turns his head and looks to see Felix walking out. Changbin feels his face heat up as soon as he sees Felix.

“Fuck” he whispers quietly.

Felix’s hair had been freshly cut and dyed. His hair, though still a bit choppy, had been more or less cut evenly and re-dyed. He had an undercut and his hair had been mostly pushed away from his face. He had dyed it a pale brown that practically made him glow. He had on a pair of skinny jeans and a loose fitting muscle shirt. He looked stunning.

Felix sees Changbin staring at him from the couch and looks down sheepishly at the floor, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

“I-umm wanted to try something new.” Felix says, “It probably doesn’t look all too great though.” He rubs at the back of his neck as he says this.

Changbin quickly gets up from the couch and walks over to Felix. He places both hands on the younger boys cheeks and presses a quick kiss to his lips before saying,

“You look absolutely gorgeous, my Star.” 

The blush on Felix’s cheeks intensifies and he buries his face into Changbin’s shoulder. 

“I’m really glad you like it.” He says, muffled. Changbin smiles at his words.

“Even before, you looked just as stunning, Star.”

“Changbin stop you’re gonna make me pass out from being too flustered!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be up soon and it’s a long one.
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	11. Chapter 10- Blindness and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s dead, Woojin! Please he’s dead!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up longer than I thought it would and honestly I’m so proud of it:)
> 
> Chapter warnings: none:)......however there are many tears

Minho feels the wind rush against his face as he launches himself across the gap between the building. It’s an exhilarating feeling, flying through the air, feeling almost weightless. He tumbles onto the next rooftop and continues running. He’s aiming to catch up to his target, Woojin, and he’s not planning on letting him get away again.

He can see Woojin ahead of him, just at the edge of the roof. Minho picks up his pace as he watches his boyfriend jump over the edge of the roof. He wasn’t going to lose their game this time.

Minho nearly reaches the end of the rooftop when he realizes something is up. He can’t see Woojin on the other side. Had he fallen? Minho prepares himself to see the worst as he looks over the edge.

“Oh that asshole” Minho mutters to himself. 

Just under the edge of the next rooftop there’s a hole in the wall. There Minho sees Woojin, leaning against the wall with a large grin on his face. He merely waves at his younger boyfriend and takes off running into the building. 

This was going to be harder than Minho thought.

~~~~~~~~

The setting sun casts a beautiful orange glow as Woojin unclips himself from the zip line. He stands at the entrance to the apartment as he waits for Minho to make his way across. Their day had ended with Minho eventually catching up to him and tackling him into a hug. Woojin had found himself completely caught by surprise and had easily crumbled under the weight of his boyfriend.

Woojin’s attention is brought back as he hears the sound of Minho reaching the apartment. He smiles and walks over to Minho, moving to help him unclip himself. Woojin is focused on unclipping Minho that he barely registers his younger boyfriend gently placing his hand on his cheek.

“Hiya, Love~” Minho whispers, his nose brushing up against Woojin’s. Woojin breaks out into a smile and brings his hands up to his boyfriend’s cheeks.

“Hi” he whispers back before pressing a soft kiss to Minho’s lips. The kiss only lasts a few seconds and Woojin can’t help but giggle as Minho pouts at him pulling away.

“Come on Babe,” Woojin says softly, “we should go rest. It’s been a long day.” Minho continues his pouting but nods in agreement. 

Woojin presses another quick kiss to Minho’s lips before he continues unclipping him from the zip line. The moment he’s done, Minho launches himself into his arms. Woojin stumbles backwards for a moment but manages to steady himself. As he steadies himself, Woojin loops his arms under Minho’s thighs and hoists him up before he heads towards their room. 

Woojin walks into their room and places Minho down on the bed before quickly stepping out of the room. He returns moments later changed into sweatpants and a loose tank top.

“You gonna change clothes my Love? Or are you gonna sleep in what you’re wearing?” Woojin asks him, pulling the curtain shut behind him.

“Mhmm I’m too tired” Minho mumbles, “I want you to come cuddle.” Woojin smiles at how adorable Minho looks, his hands reaching out towards him a soft tired smile on his face. Woojin takes no time in quickly going over to the bed and flopping down next to Minho. Woojin happily wraps an arm around his boyfriend as he snuggles into his side.

Woojin soon finds himself humming a soft tune as he gently strokes Minho’s back. The younger man smiles softly and soon drifts off to sleep. When he realizes he’s asleep, Woojin presses a kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. Soon enough he’s fallen asleep too and the two sleep for the rest of the night, undisturbed.

 

~~~~~~~~

The bright light of the morning sun shines through the apartment as Woojin wakes up. The whole scene is relatively peaceful save for the sudden coughing coming from next to him. Laying in the bed next to Woojin, Minho lay asleep but has started coughing. Concern quickly flashes across Woojin’s mind as he leans over to check over Minho.

The younger mans face is flushed red and his lips are parted, letting out a fit of coughs. Woojin gently pushes aside Minho’s bangs from his forehead and places a gentle hand against it. He reels his hand back quickly, Minho’s forehead was burning hot.

‘His temperature is way too high.’ Woojin thinks to himself. Quickly, he walks to their makeshift kitchen and searches for the medicines. Once he finds the bottle he needs, Woojin goes to get some water. He reaches for the cabinet and opens it only to find only half a bottle full. It’d barely be enough to help him.

Sighing, Woojin picks up the bottle and goes back to their room. He kneels down next to his boyfriend and gently wakes him up. Minho groans in slight pain and turns towards Woojin. He tries to speak but Woojin quickly shushes him.

“Don’t talk Baby, you need to rest your voice.” Woojin calmly says, “You need to take some medicine and sleep. I’m gonna have to go out to get more water but I’ll be back quickly.” Minho merely nods in response and allows Woojin to sit him up slightly to give him the medicine.

Once Woojin is certain that Minho is asleep, he slips out of the room and changes out of his sweatpants and tank top and exchanges them for a loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. 

He spares one last glance back at the room before hooking up to the zip line and heading out.

~~~~~~~~

Woojin is walking street level back towards the apartment when it happens. The sound of crumbling and crashing rocks echo throughout the cracked street. Woojin can see dust rising up from the end of the street and sees the source of the sound. 

At the end of the street a tunnel was collapsing in on itself. This confused Woojin because the streets in this area have been stable for years so there was no reason for a cave in to be happening. What confused him even more though, was the faint sounds of footsteps.

Soon the footsteps grow louder, the person was clearly running and stumbling as they did. Soon enough Woojin could see a figure in the dust. Carefully, he sets down the water he had collected, and cautiously walks towards the cave in.

Woojin barely has time to react when he realizes the figure is right in front of him. He finds himself being knocked backwards to the ground as they run full speed into him. His back hits the hard ground below him as he’s hit. The person lands on top of him before rolling to the side, groaning.

Woojin is sitting up in an instant and looks over the person next to him. A guy, who looks to be Woojin’s age, is laying on the ground clutching his left shoulder in pain. He’s covered in dust and dirt and wearing a ragged sweatshirt and shorts. His hair is brown by the looks of it and he has a bandanna wrapped around his head. The backpack that was slung over his right shoulder was on the ground next to him.

Carefully, Woojin reaches over to the guy and tries to help him up. As soon as he’s turned to face him, Woojin nearly jumps back in shock.

“N-no that’s impossible” he whispers as he finally sees the guys face. Though he may be covered in dust and looks different than Woojin remembered, Woojin was certain of who it was. It was Chan.

“Chan?” He says, “Is that really you?” Chan is silent for a moment, his eyes focused on Woojin, before exclaiming.

“Who the hell are you?!” Woojin can feel the tears prick at his eyes when Chan says this.

“Chan it’s Woojin, please tell me you recognize me?” He says desperately.

“You’re not him, there’s no way you’re him!” Chan yells, “He’s gone, you’re not him, stop fucking with me!”

“Chan....” Woojin can barely form a sentence as he tries to reach out for him.

“Get the hell away from me!” Chan tries to push himself away from Woojin, “Just stop tormenting me and leave me the fuck alone!”

Immediately, Woojin reaches up to Chan’s face and pulls him back with both hands, and starts to speak.  
“Your name is Bang Chan, you were the leader of our group and my boyfriend. We first met when we were 15 years old and trying to escape the riots. According to you, you immediately fell for me the moment you saw me. Three months later you confessed on the rooftop of a building in one of the last safe cities and you kissed me. We were 16 when we met Minho. I could tell you were already head over heels for him. You kissed him one week later and the three of us ended up dating. Four years ago you were exploring an abandoned subway station with him, there was a cave in and you never came back out. I’m real Chan, I’m really here Darling.” 

Woojin watches tears slowly start to stream down Chan’s cheeks as he speaks. He can feel his own tears streaming down his own face too. 

“It’s really you.” Chan whispers. Woojin finds himself unable to speak and pulls Chan into an immediate hug. Chan sobs into his shoulder and wraps his uninjured arm around Woojin. 

“I-I’m sorry I was g-gone,” Chan manages to say, “I’m sorry I c-couldn’t find you a-again.” 

Woojin pulls back from their hug and gently wipes the tears and dust from Chan’s face, “It’s okay, Darling,” he says calmly, “it wasn’t your fault.” Chan leans into Woojin’s touch. It’d been so long since he’d last seen him and he missed the feeling of his boyfriend. Woojin leans forward and captures Chan’s lips with his own. Chan’s quick to respond, lips moving with Woojin’s. 

Their kiss is desperate, years of not being with each other making them want nothing more then to never leave each other’s side. Woojin’s hands are in Chan’s hair while Chan’s rest on Woojin’s hips. Tears continue to stream down Chan’s face as he deepens their kiss. 

When they separate, Woojin softly wipes Chan’s cheeks and presses a gentle kiss to them. He watches Chan’s eyes dart around, almost trying to figure out what he’s seeing.

“You can’t see, can you?” Woojin says. Chan only nods in response.

“I’ve been underground for too long.” He says, “My eyes haven’t adjusted to being back above.” 

“That’s why you didn’t recognize me.” Woojin says softly. Chan nods in response, shutting his eyes as he does. He opens them again and tries to reach for Woojin’s face. Seeing what he wants, Woojin grabs hold of Chan’s hand and places it on his cheek. Chan takes a moment to run his hands across Woojin’s cheek. He reaches the bridge of his nose and traces it. At his lips, a gentle touch runs across them. Chan soon finds his hand at Woojin’s jaw and traces that too.

“You’ve changed a lot Love.” He says, continuing to admire his boyfriend, “So handsome..” Woojin smiles when Chan says this.

“Wait,” Chan says suddenly, “Where’s Minho? Please tell me he didn’t die in the cave in. Please tell me he’s okay and-” Chan is cut off when he suddenly starts to feel lightheaded. 

Woojin is panicked when Chan suddenly slumps forwards and passes out in his arms. He quickly checks over his boyfriend and hopes that he’s okay. After being certain that Chan had merely passed out from exhaustion, Woojin carefully picks him up in his arms. After retrieving the water he had left behind, Woojin starts back to the apartment and to where Minho was.

~~~~~~~~

 

Minho lay in the middle of the bed, patiently waiting for Woojin to return. His boyfriend had left a few hours earlier and Minho had grown bored. He had only managed to sleep for an hour before waking up. Sleeping while sick had never quite agreed with him.

The rooms silence is suddenly broken as Minho hears the the door to the stairs swing open. Woojin must be back. He gets up from the bed and exits the room, walking towards the front door.

“Babe?” He says quietly as he pushes aside the curtain into the next room. Minho finds himself shocked as he sees the state Woojin is in on the other side. 

Woojin has dust and dirt smudged all over his face. He was sweating like he had just run a marathon. The water had been dropped onto the floor next to him and in his arms was a guy. He looked so familiar to Minho.

“Woojin what happened?” Minho says quietly, “Who is he?” He can see the fear in Woojin’s eyes as he says this. It’d been so long since he’d seen that look from him.

“Babe?” Minho says with concern. Woojin stays silent for a moment, trying to avoid eye contact. 

“Okay just-” Woojin pauses and looks to reconsider his words, “Just don’t freak out, okay?” Minho sucks in a stuttered breath before nodding. He was shaking slightly from fear. Woojin hadn’t sounded that serious in years.

Minho takes a small, shaky step forwards, “Woojin, who is this guy? Please just tell me..”

Woojin looks down for a moment and whispers,

“It’s Chan.”

Minho’s eyes widen when he hears this and he feels like he can barely stand.

“What do y-you mean?” He shakily says, “What do you mean it’s Chan? H-he’s dead, Woojin.” Tears begin forming at the corners of Minho’s eyes. “He’s dead, Woojin!” He exclaims, “Please he’s dead!”

 

Woojin just stares at Minho, unsure of what to say. Minho looked on the edge of tears and looked terrified. Seeing him so scared hurt Woojin, it hurt him so much. So without saying anything else, he sets Chan down on their couch and walks over to Minho. He’s quick to pull Minho into a hug.

“I know it doesn’t make sense my Love,” Woojin says quietly, “but it’s him.” Minho is quick to break into sobs, clutching onto Woojin’s shirt and burying his face into his chest.

“H-he shouldn’t be able to be h-here.” Minho stutters out, “I s-saw him d-die Babe, I saw h-him fall a-away. H-how is h-he alive?” He continues to cry. Woojin holds Minho close, like at any moment he could just fall apart and disappear forever. He never wants him to disappear.

The two stand there for a few minutes, Minho holding onto Woojin like a lifeline and Woojin calmly rubbing his back. Eventually, Minho’s crying dies down and he finally speaks again.

“Can I see him?” He whispers quietly. Woojin pauses his movements for a moment and slowly nods, “Go ahead, my Love.”

Minho slowly pulls himself from Woojin’s embrace and walks over to where Chan is. He takes in a stuttered breath when he finally gets to the couch. Carefully, Minho kneels down next to him and gently turns Chan to face him. 

Despite how much the years had changed his face, Minho knew it was Chan. His face may have been slimmer, skin no longer tan and his hair no longer as curly as it once was but it was him. Minho gently runs his thumb over the top of Chan’s cheek and places a gentle kiss to his forehead. Minho feels Woojin’s hand on his shoulder and turns to face his boyfriend.

“I’m gonna move him to our bed, okay?” Woojin softly says. Minho nods in response and moves to allow Woojin to pick Chan up. Minho watches him walk towards their bedroom and disappear through the curtain. Minho gets up from the floor and quickly follows after him.

Woojin is settling Chan onto the bed when Minho enters the room. He watches as Woojin pulls the bandanna off of Chan’s head and wipes some of the dirt from his face. He doesn’t even notice Minho’s presence until he suddenly starts coughing. 

Woojin is by Minho’s side immediately and starts to help him towards the bed.

“You’re still sick, my Love,” Woojin says, easing Minho down onto the side of the bed opposite to Chan “You need to rest as well.”

Minho tried to protest but breaks into another flurry of coughs. Woojin quickly jogs out of the room and returns with a bottle of water in hand. He helps Minho drink from it to ease his sore throat.

“I don’t want to sleep, Babe.” Minho says after he finishes the water, “I want to wait for Chan.” Woojin lightly pushes Minho down onto the bed and presses a kiss to his forehead.

“I’ll wake you the moment he’s up, my Love.”

~~~~~~~~

Chan wakes up to a dull pain in his shoulder and a comfortable pillow underneath his head. It’d been so long since he’d last slept in a real bed, the feeling was almost foreign to him. The room around him is a blur of colour, all melding together. He wishes he could see what everything was.

Chan pushes himself up into a seated position and reaches around the bed in an attempt to find the floor. His hand eventually comes across the sleeping form of a person. The moment he makes contact with them, he hears a tired groan. His hand snaps back the moment he hears them.

“Umm hi?” Chan says, hoping the person would hear him or at the very least, Woojin. He feels the blankets shift next to him and then hears a muffled sob.

“Chan?” He hears someone sob, “Y-you’re awake” Chan can’t tell who’s speaking, was it someone he knew? He watches the shape of a person move across his blurry vision and move towards him.

“Chan,” they say, “I know you probably can’t see me but it’s Minho.” Chan immediately reaches out and tries to find Minho’s face with his hand. He can feel tears starting to trickle down his cheeks but he doesn’t care. He’s startled for a moment when he feels Minho grabs his hand and bring it to his face. Chan runs his fingers across Minho’s features, attempting to discern if it was actually him.

“You’re alive.” Chan whispers out loud, “You’re alive, actually alive.” 

“Y-yeah” Minho says, “I’m alive, but I thought you died. I thought you were taken from us.” Chan feels Minho’s tears dripping against his hand as he begins to cry. 

“I’m so sorry Baby,” Chan says to him, “I should’ve tried harder to get back. Neither you nor Woojin deserved go through that pain.” His own tears have started to stream down his face as Minho quickly pulls him into a hug.

“You look so different.” Minho says, pulling a bit back from their hug. Chan smiles slightly and says, “You’ve changed too, Babe. I can’t see your face but I know that you’ve become even more beautiful than you were before.” Chan hears Minho giggle and then feels his hand wiping the tears from his face. 

“You look really beautiful too, Baby.” Chan can’t see Minho but he can tell he’s coming closer to his face and feels his lips brush up against his own. Chan’s quick to lean forward and capture Minho’s lips. Minho loops his arms around Chan’s neck and kisses back forcefully. He’d missed him so much.

Chan feels Minho’s tongue swipe across the seam of his lip, to which he immediately parts his lips to give Minho access to his mouth. His hands grip lightly at Minho’s hips as he’s pulled closer by Minho. 

Chan lets out a small whine when Minho pulls away from the kiss but hums in content when he feels a kiss be pressed against the edge of his jawline. He lets out gasps as Minho continues to trail light kisses down his jaw and neck, quietly whispering “I missed you.” and “I love you so much.” in between kisses.

Eventually, Chan draws Minho back up to his face and presses one last kiss to his lips before saying, 

“I love you so much, I’m never going to leave you again. Not you or Woojin, it’d hurt too much.”

Just then the two hear a cough from the entrance to the room. Though Chan can’t see him, he knows that it’s Woojin standing there. The older man had just walked into the room, a set of clothes for Chan in his hand and a loving smile on his face.

“I brought you some clothes, Darling.” He says, walking over to Chan’s side of the bed. He kneels down next to him and places the clothes down on the bed next to him. “Do you need help changing? Or do you think you can manage on your own.” Chan nods, “I think I might need some help actually.” 

“I’m actually gonna go change too.” Minho says from next to him. He pushes himself up from the bed, pressing a quick kiss to Chan’s cheek and walks out of the room.

It’s a momentary struggle to change his clothes but soon enough, Woojin has helped him change into a pair of shorts and a long sleeved shirt. Soon after that, Minho returns to the room wearing just a loose pair of sweatpants.

“It’s late,” Woojin says to his two boyfriends, “We should sleep.” Minho nods and walks over to the bed. He lays down and pulls Chan towards him to give Woojin space to lay down as well. 

Chan turns to face Minho and cuddles up into his chest, momentarily surprised when his hand finds that his chest is bare. Woojin lays down behind Chan and wraps an arm around his hip. He presses a kiss to the back of Chan’s neck and buries his face into his shoulder.

“I really missed this.” Chan says quietly. Minho hums in response and wraps one arm around Chan.

The room is silent for the most part after that. The only sounds coming from their breathing and the occasional cough from Minho. Eventually, both Minho and Woojin were asleep but Chan found himself unable to sleep. His time underground had given him an odd sleep schedule and at the moment he didn’t feel tired at all. 

So instead, Chan lay in his spot and stared up at Minho’s face. Darkness had settled over the apartment once the sun had set so Chan found himself able to see slightly. He had spent nearly ten minutes trying to memorize every detail of Minho’s face. He never wanted to forget any details. 

Eventually, Chan turns around to face Woojin. He wanted to remember both of his boyfriends’ faces as best he could. So he spends time staring at Woojin as well. Chan resists the temptation to trace along Woojin’s facial features. He had changed too and looked just as gorgeous as Minho. 

Hours pass and soon enough, Chan begins to feel sleepy. He rests his head against the pillow and shuts his eyes. It still felt strange to be back sleeping in a bed but Chan didn’t really mind. He was just happy to be back. He was happy to be finally home, to be with the loves of his life and to finally be free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I absolutely did cry while writing this, I’ve been waiting to write this for a while. (Also you guys get to know what happened with Hyunjin next chapter so don’t freak out or anything)
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	12. Chapter 11- Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s why you never told him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ive decided that there is probably gonna be no schedule because I’m too tempted to post whenever I finish a chapter so here y’all go.
> 
> Chapter warnings: use of guns(minor) and stitches(also minor)

It’s in those few precious seconds after Seungmin pulled the trigger to his gun that Hyunjin can see his life flash before his eye.

The loss of his parents.

Getting found by Chan and Jisung after a bombing run over the city.

Being brought into his new family.

Supply runs into the city with Woojin and Jisung.

Pulling pranks with Seungmin.

Holding Jeongin, who had just joined the group, close as they watched his city be destroyed by bombers.

Those late night talks with Jisung where secrets were told and reassurance was given.

The Big Break.

Being kidnaped by scavengers.

The years spent in the wasteland.

It all came back to Hyunjin in an instant. Every memory, there and gone in a moment. All Hyunjin can do is close his eyes and think,

‘This is my end.’ As he feels the bullet make contact.

~~~~~~~~

It was another peaceful day in the forest as Jeongin once again finds himself on a hunt. Discouraged by his previous days failure, Jeongin was intent on getting that deer. He had made sure to tell Seungmin not to bother him this time, he didn’t want his boyfriend to be the cause of his failure today. He had seen the look of disappointment in Seungmin’s eyes when he was told to stay back. Jeongin felt horrible making him stay.

He finds himself, once again, out by their camps borders. This was the most likely place to find the deer, unless it had been spooked off from the spot. It was Jeongin’s best bet on finding it or at least being able to start tracking it.

Just then, Jeongin hears a loud crashing sound off past the border. The sound is accompanied by a strange ripple effect across the sky that had Jeongin confused. ‘What the fuck just happened?’ He thinks to himself as he walks curiously towards the sound.

Jeongin walks towards the source but pauses when he reaches the border. It wasn’t safe to cross over, he knew that. Not even Seungmin crosses them. So instead, Jeongin stands where he stopped and strains his ears to try and hear sign of movement or people.

A few minutes pass and there seems to be no other sounds. Jeongin lets out a sigh of relief and begins to turn back to look for the deer. He’s stopped though, by the sound of quiet footsteps approaching him.

Immediately, Jeongin spins back around and draws an arrow back in his bow. He walks towards the source, ignoring the warnings going off in his head. If this was a threat to him and Seungmin, he had to deal with it. 

Raising his bow in preparation for whatever he’ll find, Jeongin pushes through the bushes in front of him. As he parts through the bushes into the next clearing, Jeongin sees a person. It’s a boy who looks to be a bit older than him. He has a ragged scarf wrapped around his neck and a pair of welders goggles pushed up his forehead. The left sleeve of his long sleeved shirt was torn away to reveal thick, blood stained bandages wrapped around his arm. In his hands he has a gun pointed forwards towards Jeongin.

Jeongin pauses for a moment as he stares at the boy. He looks so oddly familiar but he just couldn’t place where he knew him. Jeongin takes one more glance over his face in an effort to figure him out. Thin face and nose, thick lips, brown hair, small mole under his eye.

‘Oh.’ Is all Jeongin can think as he suddenly is hit by a wave of memories that he had locked away until now.

The bombs.

His parents, gone.

Crying into the shoulder of one of his saviours as the sounds of his city being destroyed echoes in the distance.

His new found family.

The days and nights spent surviving together.

And when he had that all taken away from him.

Four years away from them and Jeongin hadn’t remembered any of them. Except Seungmin. Why had Seungmin lied to him? All these years together and Seungmin hid every truth from him. Why?

Jeongin lowers his bow and feels the tears start to form in his eyes. He’s barely able to form his words as his brain is overloaded with every one of his memories rushing back.

“Hyunjin?” Is all Jeongin is able to say, his ability to form words failing him.

“Jeongin, is that you?” Hyunjin quietly says from across the clearing. In that moment, Jeongin can no longer take it as tears begin to stream down his cheeks. His head feels like it’s on fire and every attempt at a thought burns like nothing Jeongin had felt before.

He feels like he’s been struck in the back of his head as an incredibly sharp pain spikes through his head. All Jeongin can do is let out a pained cry and watch the world go to black.

~~~~~~~~

Seungmin sits at the table in the house and works on sketches in his small book. He was a bit sad from Jeongin not allowing him to go out hunting as well but, he understood what the younger boy was trying to say. Seungmin knew he was a disturbance to Jeongin’s hunting but he still felt lingering worries. The area he had planned to hunt was near the border and Seungmin still wasn’t one hundred percent confident in the integrity of the door. His thoughts were filled with worry.

In an effort to draw his thoughts elsewhere, Seungmin had decided he would draw. The bulk of his sketchbook had been filled with small sketches of Jeongin. Most were him cooking in their kitchen but there were others. Him reading in the hammock in the corner of the room, laying in bed peacefully while staring at Seungmin with a soft smile, the odd night spent on the roof watching the stars. All moments that Seungmin cherished.

His peace however, was ruined by the sudden crashing sound echoing from outside. Seungmin is startled be how loud it was and immediately shoots up from his seat. Looking out the window, he can see the ripple in the dome passing over.

‘Somebody must’ve hit the outside.’ Seungmin thinks to himself. From the sound of it, the crash happened by the door. It happened near Jeongin. He quickly walks to the hidden compartment that held his two guns. He grabs one and, after checking how many bullets he had, walks briskly out the door.

Seungmin is barely halfway to the border when he hears the loud cry echo through the trees. His eyes widen in fear when he hears it. The cry came from Jeongin, Seungmin was certain of that.

He breaks off into sprint, trying to get to Jeongin as quickly as possible. There’s no way he’d let anything happen to him. Seungmin runs past the border and through the bushes. There he sees Jeongin collapsed on the ground and a person standing over him.

Seungmin’s mind goes blank of everything except Jeongin. He didn’t care about the potential threat standing over them, his only concern was his boyfriend. He drops onto his knees at the younger boys side and immediately pulls him into his arms. Seungmin checks over Jeongin and doesn’t even register the tears beginning to stream down his face. He didn’t matter right now, only Jeongin mattered.

A few gentle shakes from Seungmin is all he needs to know that Jeongin likely won’t get up soon. Turning his attention from his boyfriend, Seungmin looks up to face the stranger. He can barely see them through the tears in his eyes but that didn’t matter to him. They were a threat and Seungmin did the only thing he knew when it came to threats. He picks up his gun and, with a shaky hand, points it up at them.

“Who are you?! Get the fuck away from him!”

Seungmin knows he can’t hesitate with his actions. The stranger takes a small step back and doesn’t answer the question. Not even bothering to try and see their face, Seungmin takes aim. A bullet to the chest would do. He lines up his shot and, without a second thought, pulls the trigger.

He doesn’t even register the sound of the body hitting the ground. That didn’t matter, only Jeongin mattered.

~~~~~~~~

Hyunjin feels his body hit the ground. He feels the pulsating pain in his shoulder. All he sees is darkness and he can’t seem to move.

‘This is what dying feels like then.’ Hyunjin thinks to himself. He never thought that this is how it would all end. He always thought that he’d die in some tragic way out in the wasteland, maybe go out in a blaze of glory if he was lucky. Instead, he was shot by one of his closest friends. In a way, it was a tragic death in the wasteland. Maybe he had been right all along.

Hyunjin hears his heartbeat pounding in his head and finds himself short of breath. He knew he wouldn’t last long now. 

To Hyunjin’s surprise though, he could suddenly see again. He finds himself crumpled in a heap on the ground and is staring up at the blue sky above. 

‘Wait, am I actually alive?’ Hyunjin thinks to himself as he attempts to get up from the ground. He feels a sharp pain in his right shoulder and immediately reaches up to it. When he pulls his hand back, it’s got blood on it. Trying to inspect the wound closer, Hyunjin realizes that the bullet had only grazed the top of his shoulder. He was lucky.

Hyunjin looks around the area and his eyes land on Seungmin. The younger boy was still on the ground with Jeongin in his arms. Hyunjin sees that he’s crying as he gently rubs his thumb across the top of Jeongin’s cheek. He’s just muttering “I’m sorry” over and over again, almost like he’d somehow wake Jeongin with his words. The gun responsible for Hyunjin’s wound is laying on the ground.

Hyunjin presses a hand over his wound and carefully gets up, walking over to Seungmin. He goes unnoticed by the younger boy as he kicks the gun to the side and kneels down in front of him.

“Seungmin” he quietly says, “Seungmin look at me.” Seungmin looks up, startled.

“N-no” he says, “Y-you’re dead, I shot y-you.” Hyunjin watches his eyes desperately, presumably for his weapon. It hurts him, knowing that his own friend can’t recognize him.

“Seungmin, stop” Hyunjin says, a little louder this time, “it’s Hyunjin, not some stranger, not some murderous scavenger, just, Hyunjin.” He locks eyes with Seungmin as the younger boy stares at him. 

“Oh, God,” Seungmin whispers, “it is you. Oh, God, you’re actually alive and I almost killed you.” The tears from Seungmin’s eyes start to pour out even more as he realizes his mistake. Hyunjin can’t help but feel bad.

“It’s okay,” he says calmly, “it was my fault. I looked like a threat and you did what seemed right to you. It’s okay.” Seungmin looks like he doesn’t quite want to believe Hyunjin but says nothing more about it. Still crying, he looks down at Jeongin with concern.

“He recognized you, didn’t he?” Seungmin says to Hyunjin. Hyunjin nods in response. 

“O-oh, God n-no,” Seungmin says while breaking into more sobs, “No n-no that’s n-not good. N-not for h-him.”

“Min, why isn’t that good?” Hyunjin says, “Tell me why it isn’t good.” Seungmin doesn’t respond, only continues to stare at Jeongin with tears in his eyes. 

Hyunjin sighs and tries to figure out what he should do. He knew he couldn’t make Seungmin talk, that’d only make him close himself off even more. So instead he says,

“Look you don’t have to tell me yet. First we have to make sure Jeongin is okay and I need to deal with my wound, okay?” Seungmin only nods in response and begins to get up, Jeongin still held in his arms. He struggles for a moment but manages to hold Jeongin up on his own. Hyunjin gets up with him and follows after him.

~~~~~~~~

Seungmin was scared. Not for himself or Hyunjin, no he was scared for Jeongin. There was no telling what had exactly happened to the boy or when he could possibly wake up. All that he knew, was that Jeongin remembered. He was scared for when Jeongin would wake up, how would he react? Would he be okay? Seungmin was so scared.

He sat on the edge of their bed in the tree house, Jeongin’s hand held in his. Across the room, Hyunjin sat at the table and was carefully stitching up his wound. He had assured Seungmin that he was more than capable of dealing with his wound. It was strange and kinda painful to watch so Seungmin had taken to looking out the window. He couldn’t convince himself to even look at Jeongin.

The hiss of pain from Hyunjin takes Seungmin’s attention back to the room.

“You good?” He says to Hyunjin. He merely gets a nod in response as Hyunjin focuses on his work. He had barely spoken to Seungmin since they entered the house. Not that Seungmin felt the need to speak to the other boy. Hyunjin could take care of himself, so all Seungmin needed to think about was Jeongin. 

Seungmin focuses his attention back out the window and tries to think of what could happen if and when Jeongin wakes up. An ideal scenario would be that Jeongin didn’t unblock his memories and Seungmin wouldn’t have to see him in the same pain as four years ago. He knew how unlikely that scenario was but he could hope. The most likely scenario would be that Jeongin remembers everything now and well, Seungmin couldn’t possibly predict what his reaction would be. 

“You need to stop worrying so much.” Hyunjin suddenly says, “He’s a strong kid, he’ll be fine.”

“It’s not that, Jinnie” Seungmin says back quietly, “I’m more concerned what will happen when he wakes up and realizes everything he had blocked away.” Hyunjin gives him a confused look.

“Wait, what do you mean?”

Seungmin sighs and runs his hand through his hair. He knew that sooner or later he’d have to explain what happened to Hyunjin.

“When we were pulled away from the others during the Big Break, remember when Jeongin went unconscious suddenly with no explanation?” Hyunjin nods. “When he woke up, a few days after you were taken, he had no memory of any of the others. Just me. He didn’t even know that the Big Break happened. I always assumed that he repressed his memories. I was almost glad that he did, he was in a lot of pain before he repressed everything. When he saw you, he must’ve unblocked every memory. It was probably too much on him so he passed out.”

Hyunjin, who was just finishing the stitches on his wound, stopped what he was doing and stared at Seungmin.

“So you’re saying, this is my fault?” 

Seungmin cringes at his words. Hyunjin shouldn’t blame it on himself.

“No, no it’s not your fault.” He says in reassurance, “If anything it’s my fault, I should’ve told him earlier. He didn’t deserve to be lied to.”

“Even if it meant that he got hurt all over again?”

“He’s gonna be even more hurt now, all because I lied.”

~~~~~~~~

 

It’s later that evening and Hyunjin has taken to standing out on the houses balcony. His shoulder still hurt but he was dealing with it. Seungmin had insisted that he at least help a little bit in fixing him up, the younger boy still feeling guilty for what he had done. Hyunjin had allowed him to put that bandages over the wound. 

Hyunjin leans against the railing and stares out to what he can only assume to be a fake sunset. The colours streaking across the sky are gorgeous, colours Hyunjin’s not been able to see in years. The clouded skies of the wasteland never allowed him to see such sunsets. It was something he had missed.

The door behind Hyunjin creaks open as Seungmin steps out onto the balcony. Dry tears stain his face and his eyes are still bloodshot. ‘He must’ve been crying again.’ Hyunjin thinks to himself as he shuffles aside to make room so Seungmin can stand next to him.

“How’s he doing?” Hyunjin asks as Seungmin leans up against the railing. The younger boy brings his hand up to his face and rubs away the dry tear stains from his face.

“He’s still not awake but he seems to be doing okay. I’m not sure when he’ll wake up though.” Seungmin says, “I just hope that when he does wake up, he’s not in too much pain. All those memories were painful for him, especially the ones of loss.”

“That’s why you never told him.”

Seungmin only nods. Hyunjin looks at him and sees the tears building up once more.

“Look, don’t cry Min,” he says, “No matter what happens, I’m sure that Jeongin will be fine. So will you, I promise.” Carefully, attempting to not disturb his wounds further, Hyunjin pulls Seungmin into a hug. The younger boy immediately hugs back, pressing his face into Hyunjin’s chest, and tries his best not to let his tears start to spill out. It’d been so long since the two had hugged like this. He’d missed his friend so much.

“It’ll be okay Min, it’ll be okay.” Hyunjin whispers, over and over again. They stand together like that for a few minutes, Hyunjin whispering his reassurances and Seungmin holding onto him.

The peace though, is suddenly broken by a sudden cry of pain from inside the house. Quick as lightning, Seungmin rushes back into the house and Hyunjin trailing quickly after him.

Inside, Jeongin is sitting up on the bed with his head in his hands and tears streaming down his face. Seungmin is at his side immediately and Hyunjin, unsure of what he should do, stands frozen at the entrance to the room.

He watches Seungmin drop to his knees in front of Jeongin and place his hands on Jeongin’s. Hyunjin sees Seungmin say something but he can’t quite make it out. Jeongin’s pained cries make it hard to hear anything.

~~~~~~~~

“Jeongin talk to me.” Seungmin says to his boyfriend, “Baby talk to me, please.” The lack of response from the younger boy terrifies him. Seungmin has no clue what to do, he wants to do something but is afraid to hurt Jeongin further. He only manages to pry Jeongin’s hands from his face and pulls the boy into a hug.

“It’s okay, Baby, it’s okay.” He quietly says, gently stroking the back of Jeongin’s head. He’s surprised when he suddenly hears Jeongin muttering something. He gently pulls Jeongin up to face him, hoping he’d be able to hear what he was saying.

The younger boy looked like a wreck. Tears covered his face and he looked to be in so much pain. His eyes are wide as he makes eye contact with Seungmin.

“Why did you lie to me?” Is all he whispers before pushing himself away from Seungmin.

“Why would you lie to me?”

Seungmin feels the tears building up again as he hears this. He’d messed up, horribly. He’d taken his own happiness from himself. It was all his fault. He had lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one made me sad ;-;
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	13. Chapter 12- Heights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the fuck is that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad because I haven’t really updated on the schedule and this one is a bit late. I’ll be sure to try and get chapters together quicker next time.  
> Chapter warnings: none :)

“What the fuck is that?”

It’s all Jisung can manage to say as he surveys this strange new sight. He’d seen plenty of strange things during his four years at sea but this one was definitely new. It’s not everyday you see an island floating in the sky. It was huge and definitely heading towards Jisung. 

Unsure if he should ignore it or immediately start to panic, Jisung runs down below deck. He had no way to tell if it was safe or if it was even coming to him.

‘I’ll just hide here and maybe it’ll go away’ he thinks to himself as he shuts and locks the door to his room. He’d be safe in there, probably. Jisung didn’t want to think of all the bad outcomes of this scenario. Best case, the island leaves him alone. Worst case scenario? The island is inhabited by cannibalistic pirates here to take him away for food. That one's pretty far fetched but Jisung’s a little too panicked to think logically at the moment.

The boat rocks as the island touches down on the water outside. The sounds of small waves are the only thing Jisung can hear as he sits in silence. Fear pulses through his body and his heart races. 

Above deck, the sounds of footsteps can be heard. Jisung moves across his room and opens the door to his closet. It’d probably be safer to hide in there. After making himself as comfortable as possible, Jisung carefully closes the door and prepares to wait for as long as he has to.

~~~~~~~~

“We almost there? Please tell me we’re almost there.”

Felix groans. That’s all he had been hearing for the past two days. Changbin had become restless and had continually asked about their trips progress.

“You asked me same thing five minutes ago Bin. I gave you an answer then and it’s gonna be the same answer now.”

Felix watches Changbin pout from his spot on the couch. The older boy was lying on the couch as he reads one of the many books Felix has. He had only been on the island for two days and was already bored out of his mind. Yes he had Felix but conversation and cuddles could only entertain him so much. Felix wasn’t sure how he’d manage to last the rest of their trip.

After Felix had found Changbin, he decided his best course of action would be to pick up Jisung before heading towards the wasteland to find Seungmin, Jeongin and Hyunjin. The trip to the wasteland would take at least a week and based on how Changbin was acting now, Felix wasn’t sure he’d last the trip.

“Lix, are we almost thereeeeeee?”

“For the last time Babe, we’ll be there in under an hour. You just need to be patient, okay?”

~~~~~~~~

Jisung is startled by the sudden sound of his bedroom door being forcefully knocked against. He cowers further into his hiding spot in his closet and lets out a silent prayer that he’ll be okay. Muffled through the two doors, Jisung hears the sound of someone yelling. They sound like they’re yelling for someone. Reinforcements? More help to get through the door? Jisung couldn’t help but be afraid.

He stifles a scream when he hears the bedroom door suddenly burst open. The clear sound of the lock breaking can be heard and two pairs of footsteps can now be heard.

“Jisung? You in here?”

Wait, how did they know his name? Why does that voice sound so familiar?

“Jisung, please tell me you’re here.” 

It’s a different voice that time, someone else is speaking. Their voice sounds even more familiar than the first. Shakily, Jisung reaches out for the closet door but pauses.

“Who are you?” He says just loud enough to be heard through the door, “how do I know you aren’t here to hurt me?”

There’s no response for a moment, just silence. Just for a second, Jisung thinks he’s made a terrible mistake revealing himself but then suddenly one of them speak.

“Ji, it’s Felix, Felix and Changbin. Please come out, you know we wouldn’t hurt you.”

Jisung’s eyes widen in shock. He barely lets himself process what he heard before throwing open the closet door. In his room, there stands two boys. He doesn’t even have to look at them for long to know that they weren’t lying. It really was them, it really was Felix and Changbin.

“Holy shit you guys are actually alive.” Jisung says quietly. He feels tears well in his eyes as Felix and Changbin stare back at him. There’s no hesitation from Jisung as he leaps up and out of the closet and pulls the two of them into a hug.

Jisung’s tears spill down his cheeks as Felix and Changbin return his hug with equal strength. He can hear Felix sobbing a bit and Changbin’s breath stutter as he tries to hold back his own sobs.

“You’re alive.”

~~~~~~~~

It’s a few hours later and the three boys are on the island together. It had taken a few minutes for Felix to convince Jisung that the island was perfectly safe and wouldn’t just fall out of the sky. Jisung’s fear of heights hadn’t been an issue to him for the four years at sea but just the idea of him being on that island scared him. They weren’t even that high up but Jisung was already scared.

“You know, if you go inside and not look over the edge you won’t be as scared.” Changbin says from behind Jisung. The older boy had come outside from the house to check in on him. Jisung didn’t want to go inside right away so he had stayed outside.

“Yeah I guess you’re right” he says to Changbin “I really am just making myself more scared by staying here.”

Changbin motions for Jisung to follow him. He leads the younger boy into the house and into a comfortable looking living room. Jisung’s nearly toppled over by a knee high robot excitedly rushing down the hallway. They circle around Changbin and Jisung, excited beeping emanating from them.

“Uh hey Bucket, what’s going on?” Changbin says.

“The robot's name is Bucket?” Jisung asks, a slightly amused look on his face.

“Yeah” Changbin responds, “Felix seemed to think it was a good name for them.” Jisung nods in understanding as he watches Bucket continue to circle around him.

“Do you know what they’re saying?” Jisung asks Changbin. 

“Not a fucking clue” Changbin responds.

Jisung sighs and tries to walk over to the couch but is stopped by a tug at his pant leg. Bucket chirps loudly, almost like they were trying to get his attention. They let go of Jisung’s pant leg and move to tugging at the hem of Changbin’s shirt.

“Okay” Changbin says, a confused look on his face, “I think they want something?” Jisung nods in agreement and watches as Bucket tugs at Changbin’s shirt one last time before zipping down the hall. Changbin sighs and follows after them, motioning for Jisung to follow.

“They probably want to show you around the house” Changbin says, “That or they wanna bring us to Felix. He’s cooped up in the computer room and Bucket probably just wants him to get out of there and actually do something.” 

Sure enough, Bucket pulls open a door at the end of the hall and reveals what Jisung can only assume to be the computer room. Wires hang from various servers spread across the room and some spill onto the floor. At the back of the room sits a large computer with several smaller monitors next to it. The biggest of the computers has a huge map on the screen with several points marked on it. In front of the computers, with his head resting on his arms, is Felix.

Upon seeing the boy, Changbin quickly walks over to check on him. Jisung is still taking in his surroundings when he hears a sob escape from Felix’s mouth. Jisung looks over to see him hugging Changbin, his face pressed into his boyfriend’s shoulder. 

Jisung walks over to his two friends, a concerned look on his face. “Lix, you okay?” He asks, placing a gentle hand on his friends shoulder. He hears Felix attempt to respond but his voice is muffled. Realizing he can’t be heard, Felix pulls back from Changbin. He wipes the tears away from his face before quietly saying,  
“He’s alive”

“Who’s alive?” Jisung asks, confused.

“He means Chan” Changbin quickly answers, “We thought Chan was dead, the computer hadn’t found him anywhere. Felix was running another search just before we picked you up, just to triangulate the others locations better, the search brought up Chan with them. It means he isn’t dead.”

Jisung wasn’t aware that Chan was presumed dead but he still felt overwhelming joy. It made him incredibly happy to know that all his friends, his family, were alive. He pulls Felix and Changbin into a hug and smiles. 

“Well then” he says when he pulls back, “Let’s go find our family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might be up tomorrow? I hope?
> 
> How did you guys like this chapter?


	14. Chapter 13- Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shh, Baby, it’s okay, we’re both here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love this chapter tbh 
> 
> Chapter warnings: nightmares

All Chan could feel was the pain. The cave in had come unexpectedly and now his leg was pinned under a rock as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. The ceiling had begun to crumble and all Chan could think was ‘I guess this is it’ as he rested his head against the cold floor.  
“Chan!” He hears echo across the crumbling tunnel accompanied by the sound of two pairs of feet hitting the ground. From where he was trapped Chan could see the two loves of his life, Minho and Woojin, running towards where he was pinned.  
“Hold on we got you!” Minho yelled from across the tunnel. From behind him, Woojin extends a cautionary hand and motions to the ceiling that was slowly caving in.  
“Be careful” Chan hears Woojin say with a hand on Minho’s shoulder. Chan could feel the tears starting to build up in his eyes as he saw his two boyfriends cautiously approach his position.  
“Guys” he says with a cough “just go, there’s no saving me. Please save yourselves.”  
Chan’s pleas go unheard as Minho and Woojin near him. That’s when he hears the horrible crashing sound from above. Chan watches in horror as the ceiling completely caves in crushing his loves beneath it. The last he saw of them was Woojin holding Minho in his arms in a futile attempt to protect him. All Chan could do was watch and scream as he watched his life, his everything be taken right before his eyes.

~~~~~~~

Minho awoke to the sounds of sobbing and whimpering next to him.  
‘Chan’ is all he could think as he turned to face the source of the sounds. Sure enough his older boyfriend was curled into the blankets with tears streaming down his face and letting out small whimpers. Minho shuffled closer to Chan, his hand coming up to wipe away the tears from his face.  
“No....no...no no no No NO!” Chan suddenly starts screaming. Minho pulls him closer.  
“Chan? Chan? Baby, wake up, it’s just a nightmare. Please wake up.” Minho says to him, stroking his cheek as he does. Chan continues to cry out, his cries only getting louder. Minho can see the sheets move from the other side of Chan as Woojin is woken by his boyfriend’s cries.   
“He not waking up” Minho says as he continues to stroke Chan’s cheek. Woojin nods, the fear in his eyes clear.  
“Darling, it’s just a nightmare.” Woojin says, shaking Chan’s shoulder lightly. Suddenly Chan’s eyes suddenly open as he lets out one last cry. Minho pulls him in close the moment he does, speaking in soft tones and gently caressing his hair. Woojin moves closer to them, one of his arms circling around Chan’s waist and the other gently placed on his head. Chan buries his face into Minho’s chest and continues to cry.   
“Shh, Baby, it’s okay, we’re both here.” Minho says softly. He hated seeing Chan like this. It had barely been one week since Chan had escaped the underground and he had been struggling to cope with being out. This was the third time Minho had woken to his boyfriend having a nightmare.   
“I thought t-that I l-lost you t-two.” Chan chokes out between sobs, breaking Minho’s heart.   
“Darling we aren’t going anywhere “ Woojin says, pulling himself closer to Chan “we’d never leave you.” Minho couldn’t help but admire how calm Woojin was. Despite the fact the he knew that this situation terrified Woojin about as much as it did him. Minho could see the tears threatening to fall from Woojin’s eyes. He snaked one hand up to his face and gently rubs his cheek, his other hand still stroking Chan’s hair in an effort to calm him.

As time passes, Chan’s crying begins to die down. Though the occasional sob would come from the back of his throat, he seemed to have calmed down for the most part. He had shifted positions so that was on his back, his two boyfriends now curled into his sides. Minho’s face was pressed into the crook of his neck and had a hand resting on Chan’s chest. Occasionally he would press a feather light kiss to the side of Chan’s neck or cheek. Woojin had his head resting on Chan’s chest over his heart and was gently stroking Chan’s hand which he held in his. It was peaceful and after a while Chan succumbed to his exhaustion and fell into a dreamless slumber.

~~~~~~~~

Hours later Woojin awoke to find one less person in bed with him. Across from him he saw Minho, peacefully asleep, his hair a mess in the most handsome way. Yet Chan wasn’t there.   
‘Must’ve woken up early again’ Woojin thought to himself. Careful not to wake up Minho, Woojin pushes himself up from the mattress. He leans over for a moment and presses a kiss to Minho’s forehead before getting up to find Chan. Woojin finds Chan exactly where he expected him to be. He was sitting at the edge of their home, legs dangling off the side of the open wall. He had a cup of water in his hands and a blanket over his shoulders. He was facing out towards the sunrise he could barely see but it didn’t matter. As Woojin parts the curtain separating them, Chan turns to face him with a soft smile on his face. Woojin returns the smile and sits down next to him. 

“G’morning” Chan says, his voice still tired.  
“Morning Darling” Woojin returns. Chan places his cup next to him and brings up his hand to Woojin’s cheek. Woojin smiles and leans in to give him a kiss. When they part, Chan rests his head on Woojin’s shoulder. It’s moments like these that Woojin cherished the most, when everything was at peace and he could just be with one of the people he loved.

~~~~~~~~

When Minho wakes up, he finds himself tangled up in the beds blankets and the bed to be empty. He stares up at the ceiling and blinks a few times before pushing himself up from the bed. After searching around for a sweater, Minho walks out of the bedroom and to where he knew his boyfriends were.

Sure enough, he finds the two of them sitting together. Their legs are dangling off the side of the open apartment wall, Woojin’s arm resting at Chan’s waist and Chan’s head on Woojin’s shoulder. The scene was peaceful and Minho couldn’t help but smile at them.

“How long are you planning on just standing there?” Chan suddenly says, startling Minho. 

“I wanted to let you two stay there without me bothering you.” Minho says, a light blush of embarrassment spreading across his cheeks, “Clearly I failed though” He can hear small giggles escaping from Woojin and Chan turns to face him, a bright smile gracing his face.

“Just come sit with us, okay?” Chan says, “Or would you rather we go back to bed to cuddle?” Minho nods furiously at the prospect of cuddles. This only serves to make Chan smile even more and giggle along with Woojin. Carefully, he gets up from his seated position and walks over to Minho. Woojin follows soon after him and presses a kiss to Minho’s cheek.

“Good morning” he says softly.

“Morning” Minho says in return. He softly kisses Woojin’s lips and moves over to Chan and kisses him gently. The three of them then walk back to the bedroom. Chan immediately flops down on the bed and sticks his arms out, motioning for Woojin and Minho to join him. 

After settling onto the bed, Minho and Woojin snuggle up to Chan. A soft smile and kiss to Chan’s forehead from Minho is enough to make him giggle. He leans up and pulls his younger boyfriend in for a quick kiss before burying his face into Minho’s chest. Minho watches Woojin smile and kiss the back of Chan’s neck before laying his head down on the pillow.

“I love you both so much.” Chan says, voice muffled in Minho’s chest, “I love love love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this quickly so I could post it and I’m gonna see how quickly I’ll finish the next one now:)
> 
> How did you guys like this chapter?


	15. Chapter 14- I can’t forgive him yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just forget about the drawing, okay?”
> 
> “Why?”
> 
> “It’s not right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this ended up much longer than expected so this’ll be split into two parts. (I haven’t cried over this chapter yet but I expect it’ll happen soon tbh)
> 
> Chapter warnings:none(there’s just some sad bits)

It’s only been one day since Jeongin had remembered everything and Seungmin knew that the situation couldn’t possibly get better. It hadn’t taken long for Jeongin to completely block Seungmin from speaking to him. The younger boy had gone so far as to stay out of the house, opting to stay outside and set up a camp for himself. The only time he would enter the house would be to grab food or to grab clothes.

There was no point in trying to make Jeongin come back, Seungmin knew that. He knew that what he did was unforgivable and he had no right to do what he did. He couldn’t possibly force Jeongin to forgive him, the boy would do that when he wanted to. Seungmin didn’t expect forgiveness soon though.

Seungmin had taken to laying in bed, sketching whatever came to his mind and playing with his necklace. The necklace, a gift received from Jeongin, had only served to remind him of how badly he messed up. It reminded him of Jeongin, the joy the younger boy had brought him, every small happy moment they had and every good thing that came from the past four years. 

As he lay in bed, Seungmin hears the door to the house open. He doesn’t even bother turning to check who it was, it was probably just Jeongin. He instead focuses on the sketch in front of him. There was some initial hesitation to draw what he had but Seungmin decided he would. Covering the bulk of the page was a portrait of Jeongin, all done from memory. There was a lack of emotion on his face, eyes staring dead ahead and the usually ever present smile gone. It hurt Seungmin to look at what he drew, the drawing just seemed all wrong. The boy on the page, though resembling him, was not Jeongin. It wasn’t the real Jeongin and just the thought of Jeongin becoming what the page portrayed hurt Seungmin.

“It’s a good drawing.” Seungmin hears from behind him. He turns to face the voices source and finds Hyunjin standing behind him. The older boy’s hair was wet and he was dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. His hair also looked to be re cut as well and had been pushed up from his forehead by his goggles.

“You cut your hair.” Seungmin says.

“And you’re trying to change the subject, Min” Hyunjin responds.

“The drawing isn’t important” Seungmin says, “you don’t need to say anything about it.” Hyunjin sighs and walks closer to him.

“I was just complimenting your work, Min.” Hyunjin says, crouching down next to the bed as he speaks “You didn’t need to get defensive.”

“Just forget about the drawing, okay?”

“Why?”

“It’s not right.”

 

~~~~~~~~

“This is where you’ve been hiding out.”

Jeongin is startled by the sudden voice, he nearly drops his book from his hands. He turns to face the source of the voice and isn’t surprised to find Hyunjin standing behind him.

“How’d you figure out how to get up here?” Jeongin asks him, carefully putting his book down next to him.

“I asked Seungmin,” Hyunjin responds, “saw you up here and figured he’d know how you managed it.” 

“Did he put you up to this? Talking to me I mean.” Jeongin says, turning to face away from Hyunjin, “because if he did, I’m not gonna talk.”

“Am I not allowed to be concerned for my friend? Can I not check in on you without someone telling me to?”

“All I’m asking is if Seungmin sent you to talk to me,” Jeongin says, an almost angry tone to his voice, “you know I don’t want to talk with him. That also means I won’t talk to you if you’re speaking on his behalf.” He can hear Hyunjin sigh and take a few steps closer.

“Seungmin didn’t ask me to talk to you, okay?” Hyunjin says as he moves to sit next to Jeongin, “I just wanna check in.”

“Well what do you want me to say Hyunjin? That I’m perfectly okay? That I’m over the fact that I was betrayed by the person I trusted most in the world? Well I’m not okay, he hurt me. He hurt me more than any other thing in the world. I trusted him with my life and he took that trust from me the moment he decided to not tell me about anything. I am anything but okay, Hyunjin” Jeongin buries his face into his hands as he speaks. He feels an overwhelming urge to cry but he holds it back. There’s no point in crying, not over this. He feels a soft and comforting touch to his shoulder as Hyunjin reaches up and places a hand there.

“I know you’re not good and I’m not gonna try and force you to forgive him or talk to him. You have to do that on your own time and I know I can’t force it.”

“I don’t think I can ever forgive him, not for this.”

 

~~~~~~~~

Three days have passed and Seungmin had slowly become accustomed to living without Jeongin. It still hurt though, having the younger boy not there. He missed waking up to see Jeongin’s sleepy smile and small ‘good morning’ kisses. He missed the days spent in the forest together and lazy days spent at home. Life wasn’t the same without his boyfriend but Seungmin knew he couldn’t change anything. After all, it was his fault he was alone.

A few feet from the bed Seungmin lay on, a small pile of crumpled paper had begun to build up. The pages were covered in sketches, all incomplete and some even scratched out. Seungmin had lost his drawing inspiration and found himself unable to create anything. He was always drawn back to drawing Jeongin but nothing he drew looked right.

Seungmin is in the middle of scribbling out the sketch on his current page when he hears the door open. He turns his head a moment and sees that Hyunjin had just walked in. Ignoring him, Seungmin turns back to the page and continues to scribble. Deep black lines now cover half of what used to be a drawing of Hyunjin. It hadn’t looked right, just like the many he had done of Jeongin, so Seungmin was scrapping it. Behind him, Seungmin hears the sound of Hyunjin muttering to himself and the door creaking.

“Uh Min? The doors stuck.” Hyunjin says, more creaking following his words. Seungmin shuts his sketchbook and turns to face his friend. Sure enough, the door was stuck wide open and refused to shut.

“Just give it a few minutes,” he says, “it does that all the time. It’ll close on its own in a few minutes.”

“Why haven’t you tried to fix it?” Hyunjin responds.

“Just never got around to it.”

“You want me to fix it?” Hyunjin asks. Seungmin only shakes his head before returning to his sketchbook. He picks it up from its place on the bed and takes it over to the table. He sets it down, leaving it next to his two guns. He had left them out as there was no point now in hiding them. Jeongin knew full well about their existence. 

Grabbing a pair of shoes, Seungmin walks past Hyunjin without a word and exits through the open door.

“Where are you going?” Hyunjin asks, a slight worry to his voice.

“Going for a walk.”

“Can I come with?” Hyunjin asks, “to keep you company?”

“Sure, why not.”

Internally, Seungmin was screaming at himself for letting Hyunjin tag along. The older boy would likely be a distraction but there was no point in making him stay. 

There just was no point.

~~~~~~~~

It’s later that afternoon and Hyunjin has taken to working on the truck. It wasn’t too damaged by the crash and he had already managed to patch it up but he couldn’t be too careful. As he worked, he would occasionally glance up and look through the front window to check on Jeongin. Hyunjin had managed to convince the younger boy to join him, rather than stay alone all day.

Jeongin was lounging in the passenger seat of the truck, his legs up on the dashboard, an open book in hand and a pencil tucked behind his ear. Occasionally, Hyunjin would see him take the pencil and scribble something into the margin of the page. Something of a habit that Hyunjin had noticed, but not with Jeongin. He had mainly seen Seungmin do it and not Jeongin.

This wasn’t the only thing that Hyunjin had noticed Jeongin do that he usually observed Seungmin doing. The younger boy would fiddle with the thin leather necklace hanging from his neck, fingers toying with the beads in a similar manner to Seungmin. Hyunjin had seen the necklace before, Seungmin sporting a similar one though the one Jeongin wore seemed older and not as well made. Hyunjin had asked about it but the younger boy had brushed him off. Hyunjin didn’t need to be a genius to know who had made it either, the name carved into the beads made it clear enough.

He had observed other habits as well. The same rhythmic tapping, the beat of some long forgotten song. The way Jeongin would bite his lip in a similar way to Seungmin as he focused on reading. The scribbling in the margins. Both hands coming up to his bangs to push them aside. Each was something Hyunjin had witnessed Seungmin frequently do within the past few days and each was something Jeongin had replicated in his own actions. 

Hyunjin knew, despite how many times Jeongin denied it, that the younger boy still cared for Seungmin. Jeongin would deny it every time he asked but Hyunjin knew he cared. He may not know it now but in a tiny, almost invisible way he did.

Setting aside his work, Hyunjin gets up and walks to the door of the truck. After being certain the door was shut properly, he walks over to the driver's seat and settles in. Jeongin looks up from his book and quickly acknowledges Hyunjin’s presence before turning back to the page. Hyunjin watches as his friend scans across the page, lips occasionally parting as if he’s going to say something. After flipping through a few pages, Jeongin once again grabs the pencil and scribbles something down.

Hyunjin sits in silence for a few minutes, watching Jeongin repeat the same process over and over again. He wants to speak but doesn’t know what he would say. Instead, Hyunjin stayed silent in his seat and continued to watch as words began to form in his head. He had questions, of course, but was afraid to ask. He wasn’t sure Jeongin would even answer any. If anything, he’d just receive the usual silence and distant stare. Hyunjin just didn’t see a point in asking.

Time passes and soon the sounds of rain could be heard pouring outside. It was expected though, Hyunjin knew full well that the rain was more frequent closer to the coast. The dome wasn’t to far from the coast, making it a relatively safe area. It was a good distance from any city ruins as well, this made there less of a chance that someone would come to the dome seeking to hurt any of them.

Jeongin looks up curiously from his book and glances out the window. Hyunjin watches as Jeongin’s eyes dart around, a look of fascination spread across his face.

“I didn’t think it would rain out here.” Jeongin whispers out loud.  
“It’s not really rain though,” Hyunjin responds “it’s acid so I don’t recommend letting it touch you.” He watches a sad expression spread across Jeongin’s face. He looked almost sad to hear about the acid rain.

“Does that upset you?” Hyunjin asks, “Does it upset you that the rain would hurt you if it touched you?” Jeongin slowly nods, teeth tugging at his bottom lip.

“I like the rain.” He quietly says, carefully putting his book down and shutting it. “It’s always so calming.”

“Does it rain inside the dome?”

Jeongin nods again.

“It would from time to time, I always got excited to see it. I’d always stop what I was doing so I could go outside. It’s childish but I always play around in the puddles. It was really fun and sometimes Seungmin-” Jeongin cuts himself off and looks down. Hyunjin stares at him for a moment, unsure what to say. 

“You know,” Hyunjin says softly, “you don’t have to stop yourself from talking about him.”

Jeongin stays silent, a hand coming up to his necklace. He toys with the beads for a moment, it’s the only sound to be heard beside the rain outside. 

“Even if you can’t forgive him you can at least talk about him, right?”

Jeongin shakes his head.

“I don’t want to remember those times.” He says, “I don’t want to be reminded of it. He spent all these years deceiving me, every memory from our time here just feels wrong.”

“Still-”

“I can’t forgive him Hyunjin, not yet, maybe never.”

That’s enough to make Hyunjin drop the topic. He rests his head back against his seat and stares out the window at the rain. It really was a peaceful sight. Beside him, Jeongin flips open the book once more and continues his process.

Flip.  
Scan.  
Scribble.  
Repeat.

~~~~~~~~

Four days.

Four days and Seungmin feels like everything had happened only a few hours before. He had tried to convince himself to move along, to think of something else but Jeongin still sat at the front of his thoughts. It seemed like nearly every single thing he did only serves to remind him of Jeongin.

The hammock? Jeongin loved napping there and reading. He’d look up from time to time and softly smile at Seungmin. He couldn’t even bring himself to go near the hammock anymore.

When night would roll around, Seungmin would remember all those late nights spent with Jeongin. Cuddles together, forehead kisses and soft singing. Seungmin now spent the majority of the night staring at the ceiling, sleep not taking him. 

Everytime Hyunjin had gone and prepared some food in the kitchen, that was a reminder too. Memories of time spent with Jeongin as he prepared food. Seungmin’s arms wrapped loosely around his waist as he muttered compliments to his boyfriend. Everything had a place in the kitchen and Seungmin had to stop himself from correcting Hyunjin whenever he put something away wrong. Jeongin would never let things be put away wrong, never.

Seungmin didn’t want to think of Jeongin, he didn’t want to be brought back. He knew that if he was he’d try and make Jeongin talk to him. That wouldn’t be a good idea, it’d only serve to make Jeongin hate him more. He just didn’t see a point. 

These things weighed down on Seungmin as he tried his best to work through each day. His sketchbook had been long abandoned, still resting on the table next to his guns. He spent his time laying in bed, staring at nothing as he tried to will himself asleep. The lack of sleep was getting to him and he knew it, even Hyunjin could tell. Seungmin always brushed aside Hyunjin’s concern and would say something like ‘I’m fine, I can take care of myself’ to try and get the older boy to leave him be.

This morning was exactly that, Hyunjin wandering into the house and voicing his concern. Seungmin would tell him to leave him alone and the older boy would stop talking. He only stayed briefly today, claiming he had work to do on the truck and planned to go to the spring first to bathe. He left the house soon after and Seungmin was left alone in his thoughts.

He hears the receding heavy foot falls of his friend and lays his head back down on his pillow. He wanted to sleep but his mind was too active, too filled with thoughts to allow him to sleep. His mind wanders as he stares up at the ceiling, not even bothering to shut his eyes. He knows that sleep won’t come to him so what’s the point.

What feels like an hour passes and Seungmin is still laying in the same position. His mind isn’t as active now but he still finds himself unable to sleep. His body screams at him to rest but his mind still won’t let him. His eyes are sore and watery but still he won’t sleep.

Outside, Seungmin can faintly hear the sound of something clattering on the ground. Soon after he hears the sounds of heavy footsteps.   
‘Must be Hyunjin.’ Seungmin thinks to himself, turning to face away from the door and ignoring the footsteps. They’re accompanied by the sound of something being dragged but Seungmin doesn’t care.

A few moments pass and he hears the sound of the door opening. By the sound of it, the door was stuck open. The heavy footsteps resonate throughout the room, the dragging sound now accompanied but the frantic shuffling of feet. This confuses Seungmin a bit but he brushes it aside and speaks.

“What do you want Hyunjin?” There’s a pause for a moment, the heavy footsteps stop but the frantic shuffling is still there. There’s no response for a moment but then Seungmin hears a voice.

“S-seungmin”  
That wasn’t Hyunjin’s voice, it was Jeongin’s. It came out strained and shaky, fear laced through it.

As quickly as he could, Seungmin sits up to face Jeongin. His eyes widen and tears quickly well up in his eyes when he sees the sight before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two will likely be up tomorrow or the day after, depends on how quickly I finish it up. Hopefully I won’t cry or something while writing.  
> But anyways, how’ you guys like this chapter?


	16. Chapter 15- Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Please, please let them be okay’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the shortest chapter I’ve done for this but I wanted to put this little bit in between the previous chapter and the next.
> 
> Chapter warnings: none:)

Water drips down into Hyunjin’s eyes as he walks towards the dome entrance. He hadn’t bothered to properly dry his hair and that was his consequence. He ran a hand through his bangs in an attempt to push them back away from his face. His attempts are futile as his hair always flops back against his forehead. The plus side is that some of the water is gone now so the dripping is less frequent.

The forest is silent as he walks through it. A bag is slung over Hyunjin’s shoulder, it carries his other clothes and a few tools for his work. The rest of the tools were stored on his truck due to the inconvenience of carrying them.

Occasionally the bag would swing side to side and the tools would jostle around, their sound breaking the silence. 

The walk to the door is uneventful. 

As the door came into his view, Hyunjin grew quickly concerned. Though the door was still broken, he had managed to more or less seal it. There was still a large crack running across it though and it was visible from the outside.

The door was now open, pushed off its hinges and laying on the ground. The crack had spread further and Hyunjin didn’t need to be close to know it was broken beyond repair.

He walks over to it and crouches down to inspect it further. In the centre, it looked as though someone had struck the middle of it forcefully. The hinges are busted off and the sides are riddled with bullets. It looked like someone wanted to get in and get in they did.

Hyunjin’s eyes widen the moment he processes this.   
Someone got in. Someone got in and that was a threat. A threat to him, a threat to his friends. 

‘They could be in danger.’  
It’s all Hyunjin could think as he leaps to his feet and, dropping his bag as he does, starts running back for the house.

‘Please, please let them be okay’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up tomorrow or the day after~~~
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	17. Chapter 16- I’m still not okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stop h-hurting him! Please!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy this chapter made me super emotional while writing T^T 
> 
> Chapter warnings: guns, description of death(not too much though), lots of crying, death threats

Jeongin felt like he could barely breathe. His throat felt constricted, his chest so tight his lungs could barely take in oxygen if his airway was clear. His arms hung at his sides, any ability to move hindered by his overwhelming fear. At the side of his head, a pulsing pain was present and seemed to grow by the second. He could barely keep the tears in his eyes at bay.

Jeongin found himself barely able to speak, he tries to speak but could only manage one word.

“S-seungmin”

It’s all he stutters out but it’s enough to get the older boy to immediately face him. Jeongin watches Seungmin’s eyes widen in fear and shock, his lips parted like he wanted to speak. Tears brimmed the older boy’s eyes and that was nearly enough to make Jeongin start to cry as well. 

Jeongin can feel his throat tightening and his airway constricting even more. He coughs in a futile attempt to try and get his breath back. Once more he tries to speak, to try and get Seungmin to do something other than stare in fear. One word manages to get past his lips.

“H-help”

~~~~~~~~

Seungmin hears Jeongin, he hears him well, but he can’t seem to will himself to move. All he could do is stare, stare with more fear running through his body then ever before. He tries to process what he sees but all the he can think is ‘Jeongin is in danger and I can’t help him.’

Before him he sees Jeongin and behind him, with an arm wrapped tightly around the younger boy’s neck and a gun pressed against his head, was a wasteland scavenger. The scavenger’s face was scarred and was angry. Burns ran down his exposed arms, these arms were strong and looked more than capable of hurting Jeongin. He holds Jeongin just high enough that the younger boy can’t stand, his legs buckle beneath him as he tries to stand.

Seungmin can see the scavenger is saying something but he can’t hear him. His heart pounds too loudly in his ears and his mind is muddled, he can barely even think let alone hear. He watches the scavenger’s mouth move again and manages to catch the tail end of the sentence.

“-gonna kill your little boyfriend here and then you too.”

Seungmin’s eyes widen and a sob escapes from his throat. An evil grin spreads across the scavenger’s face as he hears this and it sickens Seungmin to his core. 

“W-why? W-why w-would y-you h-hurt u-us?” Seungmin stutters through his words, tears starting to stream down his face as he speaks. The scavenger responds with a laugh.

“Didn’t you hear me before? Or were you too busy being concerned over this little brat?” His arm tightens around Jeongin’s neck making the younger boy gasp for air and start to claw at the man's arm. This only serves to make Seungmin cry even more.

“Stop h-hurting him! Please!”

More laughter follows.

“I already said I’m gonna kill him, so it doesn’t matter. May as well make him suffer a bit.” His arm tightens more. “As I was saying, I’m gonna kill you both and take this place for myself. You two little hoarders have had this coming the moment you took this all for yourselves. At least I’ll have the decency to share it.”

Jeongin looks like he’s barely breathing now, his attempts to free himself becoming sluggish and his face paling. His lips are parted as he tries to gasp for air. Tears are starting to stream down his face and his eyes are wide with fear. It pains Seungmin to see him like this, his sobbing now becoming louder.

“Stop hurting him! Y-you’ve done enough!”

Seungmin lets out a strained sigh of relief as he watches the scavenger loosen his arm. Jeongin takes in a deep breath and starts coughing. He falls limp from exhaustion and his knees buckle fully beneath him.

This relief only lasts for a moment though. Seungmin sees the scavenger dig the gun deeper into the side of Jeongin’s head, this makes him let out a strangled cry of pain. 

“Now that that’s over,” the scavenger says, “let’s get this show on the road. Any last words, brat?”

Jeongin continues to gasp for air as he makes eye contact with Seungmin. His eyes show fear and tear stream from them. Seungmin wants nothing more than to help him but he has no idea how. Where was Hyunjin? Was he okay? If he were here maybe it’d all be okay but that wasn’t the case. His friend was nowhere to be found and Seungmin was about to watch the love of his life be killed right in front of him.

“I’m s-sorry, for e-everything.” Is all Seungmin can say. There’s no response from Jeongin for a moment, his eyes stare back like he’s trying to process what Seungmin had said.

“I-it’s okay” he finally says, “it’s okay.” There’s another pause before he says,  
“I love you” as he hears the gun cock next to him.

~~~~~~~~

As the house comes into his view, Hyunjin can hear the sobs resonating from inside.  
‘Please tell I’m not too late.’ He thinks to himself as he runs for the door. 

As he reaches it, Hyunjin finds the door to be stuck open and he has a clear view of what’s happening inside. He doesn’t even hesitate for a moment before taking action. In seconds he’s at the kitchen counter grabbing a knife and moments after he takes that knife and drives it into the back of the scavenger’s head.

Blood oozes from the wound as the scavenger collapses to the ground. Now free, Jeongin falls forwards to the ground but is caught by Seungmin who is now scrambling forwards towards him. Hyunjin watches him catch Jeongin into his arms, both crying as they embrace.

Hyunjin leans an arm against the counter as he tries to catch his breath. From where he is, he hears the quiet whispers coming from his two friends. He can’t quite make out what they’re saying but he can only pray it’s something good.

~~~~~~~~

The moment he sees Hyunjin stab the scavenger, Seungmin finds himself able to move. He launches himself forwards and catches Jeongin in his arms. Tears pour from his eyes as he pulls the younger boy into a tight embrace. He feels Jeongin grip at his shirt as he too continues to cry.

“I-I’m s-sorry” Jeongin stutters out, voice muffled by Seungmin’s shoulder, “I s-should’ve b-been more c-careful.”

“It’s okay Baby,” Seungmin reassures him, “it’s not your fault.”

“A-and I’m sorry f-for ignoring y-you, I s-shouldn’t have b-but it’s a-all I was a-able to do.”

Seungmin can only listen as Jeongin continues to speak.

“I’m s-still not okay th-though, not y-yet at least. I want t-to trust you a-again but it’ll t-take time but I k-know I can’t k-keep ignoring y-you.”

Seungmin pulls away from the embrace and looks Jeongin in the eyes.  
“I know, I know you still don’t trust me and that’s fine. I’m not gonna force you to come back, I just want to keep you safe. You don’t need to forgive me, you don’t ever have to but no matter what I’ll always be here.”

“I know.”

~~~~~~~~

Hyunjin walks up towards the house, his hands still shaking as he tries to calm himself down from the events that took place only a few hours before. He still felt paranoid that someone else was there and would come after them again.

The three of them, after Hyunjin was certain that both Seungmin and Jeongin were physically okay, had agreed that the dome was no longer safe. The door was way beyond repair with what supplies they had. So, after some slight arguing with Seungmin, they had all settled on one thing. They’d have to leave.

Hyunjin had told his two friends to pack up some stuff while he went and prepared the truck to leave. It went smoothly so now he was headed back to tell Seungmin and Jeongin it was time to leave. As he got to the front door and opened it, he let out a relieved sigh as he saw both his friends were perfectly fine. He was happy to find his paranoia was for nothing.

The two were at the back of the room with a few bags set in front of them. Hyunjin could see they hand their hands linked and the two were closer than they had been since Jeongin remembered. There was a spark of happiness within him as he saw that at least his two friends were starting to make up.

Hyunjin coughs to grab their attention and immediately they both turn, Jeongin’s hand pulling back quickly from Seungmin’s.  
“Ready to go?” Hyunjin asks. Jeongin nods and, hesitantly, Seungmin does too.

Hyunjin grabs one of the bags while Seungmin grabs the other two. There’s a pause for a moment as Seungmin takes a glance around the room, almost like he doesn’t want to leave. Jeongin gently grabs his hand and tugs him towards the door. 

“Seungmin we have to go.” He says softly. Seungmin sighs and starts for the door.

The walk to the truck is quick and the whole way there, Jeongin never lets go of Seungmin’s hand. The moment they get into the truck though, Jeongin immediately lets go and takes a seat in the passenger seat.

Hyunjin sees a slight sad look come across Seungmin’s face but it quickly fades as he takes up a seat in the back of the truck. Hyunjin knew that the trust wasn’t fully there but at least they weren’t ignoring each other. At least they started to rekindle that trust. They’d need that again soon, their trust would be valuable for the three of them as they go into the wasteland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How’d you guys enjoy this chapter?


	18. Chapter 17- New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re curious” Changbin says, resting his chin in Felix’s shoulder “Why can’t you just tell us what you’re making?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the first time in a million years I’m actually updating 0o0

Jisung and Changbin lean over Felix’s shoulders and watch him tinker with a small device. The freckled boy had been working for nearly the whole day and refused to tell Jisung and Changbin what he was creating. 

“You almost done?” Jisung asks curiously. Felix doesn’t respond for a moment and continued to work. Realizing he’s being ignored, Jisung begins to pout.

“Lixxxxx why won’t you tell us what you’re making?” He whines. Changbin nods in agreement.

“We’re curious” Changbin says, resting his chin in Felix’s shoulder “Why can’t you just tell us what you’re making?” Felix shrugs Changbin off from his shoulder and reaches across his workbench to grab another tool.

“You’ll find out when I’m done, okay?”

Behind him, Felix hears whining from Jisung and Changbin but they leave him be.

“Finally” he mutters to himself as he continues to work on the device in front of him.

~~~~~~~~

Two hours pass before Felix finally leaves his workstation and goes back to Changbin and Jisung.

The pair have fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. Jisung is slumped against Changbin’s shoulder and Changbin’s head is resting against him. Felix has to resist cooing at them both as he walks over. He places a hand on Changbin’s shoulder and gently shakes him.

“Binnie, wake up my prince.” he says softly.

Changbin groans a bit and slowly opens his eyes. He looks up and gives Felix a sleepy smile. Felix smiles back softly and says,

“It’s time to wake up sleepy boy, come on” 

Changbin nods and begins to get up, moving Jisung in the process. Jisung starts whining in his sleep as his pillow in the form of Changbin is taken from him. He falls against the couch pillows and groan. Felix notices him fall and cringes before moving to wake him up.

“Sungie, it’s time to wake up” Felix says, gently shaking him.

“Don’t wanna.”

“Come on, Sungie, if you wake up I’ll show you what I was working on.”

Jisung immediately opens his eyes and looks up at Felix excitedly.

“Really?” He says, an excited smile on his face.

Felix nods and starts helping Jisung up from the couch. Jisung immediately sits up and stares at Felix. 

“Can I see now?” He says.

Felix giggles a bit and smiles.

“Let me go get it, okay?” 

Jisung and Changbin nod as they watch Felix walk back to his workshop. The freckled boy quickly grabs his new creation and beckons for Bucket to follow him. They chirp happily in response and follow him back to the living room.

Felix is nearly knocked over by a very excited Jisung as he walks over to the couch. Jisung excitedly leapt from the couch and started trying to see what Felix had.

“Show me!” 

Felix giggles at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“Okay, okay, hold on” he says, trying to pry Jisung off of him. Changbin comes to his aid and gently pulls Jisung back to the couch and sits him down.

“You gotta give Lix some space, Ji” he says.

Jisung starts to pout a bit but listens and patiently waits in his seat. Felix sits down on the floor in front of the two of them.

“Both of you shut your eyes and hold out your hands” Felix says.

The two give him a confused look but do as they’re told. Felix places an object in their hands.

“Okay you can open your eyes now.” He says.

They both open their eyes and look to see what Felix has given them. In their hands is a small ear piece, shaped like a hearing aid and it looks like it’s meant to wrap around the wearers ear. 

Jisung immediately starts inspecting it, his eyes wide and curious.

“What is it?” Changbin asks Felix, curious as well.

“Well” Felix starts, “you both have trouble understanding Bucket so I made these to help with that. When you wear the ear piece you should be able to understand them.”

Jisung’s eyes light up as Felix says this. He immediately scrambles to try and put the ear piece in. He manages to get it on but pouts when nothing happens as Bucket chirps at him.

“Sungie, it’s not turned on.” Felix says, giggling.

Jisung allows Felix to turn it on for him and he immediately turns to Bucket.

“Try saying something, bud” Felix says to them.

Jisung stares at them in anticipation.

“Hello!” A bright, bubbly, and childish voice says as it projects through the ear piece. Jisung jumps a bit in shock but starts smiling.

“Hi,” he says back, “it’s great to finally hear you.”

“I’m so happy you can understand me now!” Bucket excitedly says back.

“Is it working well?” Felix asks Jisung.

“It works really well, they sound so cute!” Jisung says in response. 

Felix smiles and starts helping Changbin put his on.

“That’s awesome” he says as he turns Changbin’s ear piece on. Bucket goes over to him.

“Hey!” They say, “can you understand me now?”

Changbin jumps a bit and nods. A squeal like sound comes from Bucket as they happily spin around.

“Wow they’re very excited.” Changbin says, smiling at the excited robot.

Felix nods.

“They’ve been asking for this since you got here, even more after Sungie got here.” He says.

He watches as Bucket grabs onto Jisung’s hand and pulls him off the couch. They start tugging him down the hallway.

“Come on Come on, I’m gonna show you the house!” They exclaim.

Jisung doesn’t protest, he just smiles and allows himself to be pulled along. He hears laughter from both Felix and Changbin but doesn’t care.

“Okay, bud, show the way.”

 

~~~~~~~~

It takes a few hours but soon enough Bucket has shown, and explained the purpose of, Jisung every nook and cranny and object in the house. The robot was excited to show off everything and Jisung was very willing to learn. Though that enthusiasm was halted when Jisung started getting pulled towards the front door. 

“Come on, let’s go outside!” Bucket exclaims.

Jisung can feel stomach drop at those words. Outside, in the air, where he can see the sky and, of course, how high in the sky they are.

“I don’t know, bud, it’s getting kinda late maybe we should wait.” Jisung tried to say but he was pulled away to the door.

“It won’t take long, I promise, I just wanna show you my garden.” Bucket says, “I made it while Felix was sleeping, it’s really cool.”

Jisung tries to form some excuse but he can’t bring himself to tell Bucket no. He doesn’t want to see the happy little robot become sad.

The sun is setting when Bucket pulls him outside. Jisung does everything in his power not to focus on the fact that he can see how high up they are. Okay maybe he is focusing a lot on that and he may be freaking out slightly. Yet he makes no move to try and go back inside.

Bucket takes Jisung to the side of the house, completely unaware of the boy’s overwhelming fear. The garden, as it turns out, is right near the edge of the island. Jisung has to surpress his scream of fear as he glances over the edge. He instead tries to turn his attention to Bucket as they show him the garden.

Everything Bucket says goes unheard by Jisung. The fear has consumed him and all he can think is, “oh god I’m gonna fall over the edge and die”. Despite countless reassurances from Felix and being informed of every safety precaution, Jisung was still terrified. There isn’t anything that’s change his fear of heights, absolutely nothing.

“-Sung, Jisung, you’re not even listening.” Jisung hears the tail end of what Bucket was saying to him as he drifts back from his thoughts. The robot sounds upset, which makes Jisung upset.

“I told you all of this and you didn’t listen, that’s not nice.” They pout to him, a sad tone to their voice.

“S-Sorry” Jisung manages to stutter out.

Bucket looks as though they’re about to say something but they stop.

“Are you scared?” They ask him.

Jisung immediately looks down in shame and nods. He feels Bucket take his hand and pull him up.

“Well jeez, you should’ve told me earlier” they say, “then I wouldn’t have made you go out here.”

Jisung mutters out another sorry as Bucket takes him back inside. They both pass a sleeping Changbin and Felix on the couch and head towards Jisung’s room.

“You’re just like Felix” Bucket says as they get into the room, “he tried to pretend he wasn’t scared either.”

Jisung just nods, looking kinda embarrassed. He watches as Bucket moves the sheets on his bed for him and pats a spot for him to sit.

“Come on, you need to rest” they say, “it’s getting late.”

Jisung nods and sits on the bed. Bucket helps him out of his shoes and grabs clothes for him to change into.

“You get changed now, I gotta go deal with Felix and Changbin.” They say, extending one of their long arms to pat Jisung’s head. “Sleep well, thanks for staying with me today.”

If Bucket had a real face, Jisung was sure they would’ve been smiling at him. They leave the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Jisung alone. He gets up from his bed and starts getting ready to sleep. He takes of his clothes and exchanges them with the ones Bucket layed out for him. He carefully takes off the ear piece and sets it on his bedside table before lying down on the bed. He wraps himself up in his blankets and rests his head down on his pillow.

Jisung still feels the lingering fear from being up so high but he pushes those thoughts away and tries to think happy. He smiles to himself as he thinks about the days events and how happy he was to be back with his friends. That was enough to ignore the fear, enough to make him happy and to help him drift to sleep.

“Today’s been a good day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really really really sorry for not updating sooner. School and life has been really stressful as of late and I haven’t had a lot of time or motivation to write T^T I hope this chapter was okay!
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	19. Chapter 18- Making Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you want that trust to come back you gotta be open with him. You gotta stop lying about anything that’s happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop new update:) updates might continue being slow for the next bit because of school but hopefully I’ll be able to consistently get out chapters.

Seungmin wakes to an unfamiliar, cold, and empty bed. As he comes to consciousness, he momentarily panics before realizing where he is. He’s safe, he’s alive, and he’s with his friends. 

Outside, he hears the sounds of rain hitting the truck. Ahead of him, he can hear quiet chatter. The source of this chatter, he soon finds out, is Hyunjin and Jeongin. The pair are sitting in the front seats of the truck together as Hyunjin teaches Jeongin how to disassemble and reassemble a handgun. The younger boy watches intently as the older shows him each individual piece of the gun and how it works.

Seungmin lays in bed and watches the scene. He has a small smile breaking out when Jeongin manages to assemble the gun properly. 

“I’ll take you outside soon to show you how to use it, how’d you like that?” Hyunjin asks Jeongin.

The younger boy nods excitedly.

“That’d be awesome!”

Seungmin can’t help but smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. Jeongin had always been willing to learn new things, the bow, how to hunt, how to cook and how to craft. The gun was merely another item that’ll be added to his long list of skills and Seungmin was excited for him to learn. Six days ago Seungmin would’ve been terrified at the thought of Jeongin learning how to use a gun. But, the final four days in the dome coupled with their two days traveling the wasteland had changed his perspective. So instead of fear he felt happiness at the thought of Jeongin learning how to use a gun.

Though Jeongin was talking to him again, Seungmin hadn’t had much talk with the younger boy. Seungmin knew it would take more than two days for Jeongin’s trust to return, he knew he couldn’t force it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Jeongin never trusted him again. Seungmin was prepared to accept that, at least he hoped he was prepared.

“Min” Seungmin hears Hyunjin from the front seat call out for him. He quickly sits up and looks over to him.

“It’s sunset” Hyunjin says, “Time to head out.”

Seungmin groans but nods. 

“Give me a minute.”

He gets up from the cot and starts getting his stuff together. For the past two nights, him and Hyunjin has made something of a ritual of going out together and doing some quick scavenging. Though the idea of possibly getting more supplies, the thought of being caught up in some rain had made him weary. After being reassured and showed by Hyunjin that the rain was nothing to worry about, he came to actually enjoy it. Their trips would only last an hour or two as the fear of leaving Jeongin alone in the truck was great for the two of them. The likelihood of a scavenger actually getting into the truck was low but they still wanted to be safe.

“How far out are we going today?” Seungmin asks.

“A little under a kilometre” Hyunjin says as he grabs a bag and one of his guns, “There’s part of a ruined city there I’ve been meaning to head back to. It should have a lot of cover and some good looting spots.”

Seungmin nods and goes over to grab a gun for himself. As he walks over he passes Jeongin, book in hand and sporting a sleepy expression, as he heads over to the cot. He gives Seungmin a small smile as he passes, which Seungmin returns. The younger boy settles down on the cot and opens his book. Seungmin pauses to watch him for a moment but stops when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go.” Hyunjin says to him.

He nods and grabs a bag for himself before going to wait at the door.

“Jeongin” he hears Hyunjin say, “Remember our rules on being alone.”

Jeongin sighs and nods.

“Keep the light down, don’t sit in the driver’s seat, don’t bring unwanted attention to the truck and never, under any circumstance, open the door unless it’s you two coming back.”

Hyunjin nods and smiles.

“Good” he says, “Let’s go now, Min”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

It doesn’t take long for them to traverse the distance to the ruined city and soon enough Seungmin finds himself digging around the rubble of what he assumes was a department store. Melted mannequins and rusted shelves are scattered around the rubble, giving the whole place an overall creepy vibe. The place already looked relatively picked over but Seungmin figured it’d be worth his time. Across the broken and mostly sand covered street, Hyunjin is searching through what looks like an old apartment building. Most of the floors have crumbled in but the lobby was still standing so Hyunjin took a crack at it.

“Ugh” 

The head of a mannequin rolls out from underneath some shelves Seungmin moves, it’s blank and melted face staring back at him.

“Fucking creepy” he mutters to himself as he passes over it. Every mannequin he came across just served to become nightmare fuel or, at the very least, some kind of inspiration to draw. Maybe that inspiration will get him back into drawing again. Ever since they left the dome he couldn’t get himself back into it, the walls he had put up just wouldn’t come down.

Beside him, Seungmin hears the groaning of metal and barely has time to leap out of the way of a collapsing shelf. It crashes to the ground next to him, taking one of the few surviving mannequins down with it. He hears the sounds of feet hitting the ground as he spots Hyunjin jogging over to him.

“You okay?” He questions , slightly out of breath from running over.

“Yeah, I’m fine” Seungmin says, “Stupid shelf just fell over.” 

“Okay, that’s good.”

“But look what it showed.” Seungmin points to where the shelf was and smiles. Though it won’t be all that useful to them, Seungmin was excited to see an untouched shelf of jewelry.

“That’s” Hyunjin says, staring at the jewelry, “Actually pretty cool, it’s a wonder they haven’t been picked over or found yet. You wanna grab some? Or like all of it?”

“I don’t really see why we need it though” Seungmin says, “They don’t really have much value anymore.”

“Actually they do, I can do a quick run into a settlement and trade for some stuff with them.” Hyunjin returns.

“Oh, let’s do that then”Seungmin says, walking over to the shelf to start putting the jewelry in his bag.

“You can probably keep a few too, if you’d like”

Seungmin looks up at Hyunjin as he says that. The thought of maybe keeping some hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Do you not like that idea?” Hyunjin asks, putting some into his own bag now.

“No, I like it” Seungmin says, “I just didn’t consider it before you said so.”

“So you want to keep some?”

“Yeah, sure, why not.”

And they left it at that.

 

~~~~~~~~

“Ow fuck!” Hyunjin exclaims as he reaches his good hand to his shoulder.

“You okay?” Seungmin asks, his voice laced with concern for his friend.

“It’s starting to rain” he says back, “We need to get some cover, quickly.”

The pair quickly search for a suitable spot to take cover as rain begins to falls. Seungmin has to hold back his cries of pain as hits him and starts dripping down him, leaving burns in its path. Just as it’s becoming unbearable for him, Seungmin is quickly pulled into a small cave like structure by Hyunjin. He lets out a sigh of relief as he’s pulled to safety.

“You good?” Hyunjin asks him after they’re certain the shelter is protecting them.

“Y-Yeah” Seungmin manages to stutter out, “Just got a few drops on me, th-they’re mostly on my back.”

“Show me” Hyunjin insists, “We need to be sure it’s nothing too serious.”

Seungmin nods and begins to peel off his shirt, cringing as it brushes over the burns. Hyunjin quickly goes to survey his back, his concern evident by the reaction he has.

“Okay” he says, “They’re not too bad, I just need to clean you up a bit so it doesn’t get worse.”

Seungmin just nods again and allows Hyunjin to do what he needs to do. Seungmin hears Hyunjin rummage around his bag before he sets something down to begin his work. He grits his teeth in pain as Hyunjin begins to clean him up and address any burns that need tending to.

“Almost done,” Hyunjin mutters to himself, “Almost there.”

Seungmin just nods as he tries to push his thoughts elsewhere, but every stab of pain drags him right back to reality. He just prays the Hyunjin is almost done.

It feels like hours have passed when Hyunjin’s finally done. Seungmin lets out a sigh of relief and reaches to grab his shirt. As he puts his shirt back on, Seungmin turns and faces Hyunjin. He gasps quietly when he sees the pained expression on his friends face as he tends to his own wounds.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were hurt?!” Seungmin exclaims, scrambling to Hyunjin’s side.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Min, I’m fine” Hyunjin responds through gritted teeth.

“Like hell you’re fine” Seungmin says, sitting next to Hyunjin now, “Let me see, I wanna help.”

Hyunjin lets out a strained sigh but allows Seungmin to look over him. The only sign of his pain is the gritting of his teeth as Seungmin’s fingers lightly drag over his arm. Hyunjin watches as Seungmin reaches to grab what he needs to take care of the wounds before focusing on his work.

Hyunjin is surprised at how quickly Seungmin manages to tend to the wounds. He hadn’t expected him to have such a strong grasp of how to deal with burns, especially ones from the rain.

“Have you done this before?” He questions.

“Done what?” Seungmin responds.

“This” and Hyunjin gestures to his burns and how Seungmin has treated them, “Have you dealt with burns like this before? You managed to deal with them pretty quickly.”

Seungmin freezes at Hyunjin’s words and looks down at his hands. His work on Hyunjin’s burns is done so he isn’t concerned about continuing so he stops all together.

“Min? You okay?” Hyunjin asks, turning around to face him.

“Y-Yeah I’m fine” Seungmin says, still looking down at his hands, “J-Just brought up some memories as all.”

“Memories?”

“From a-after you got taken” Seungmin tries to keep his composure as he speaks but it’s clearly hard, “W-When I was t-trying to get Jeongin s-somewhere safe. We w-were caught u-up in a downpour. We were lucky enough t-to be just at the dome when it h-happened so I got Jeongin inside but I g-got burned a lot on my leg.”

“So you had to learn to deal with it?” Hyunjin asks.

Seungmin only nods in response and starts to pack up the supplies. When it’s all put away his hand drifts down to his pant leg. He pushes it up a bit to reveal the scars going up and around his calf.

“They took forever to heal” he says quietly, “Had to pretend that I sprained my ankle or something so Jeongin wouldn’t get suspicious.”

“And he still doesn’t know what really happened?” Hyunjin says, curiously looking over the scars but not daring to touch them.

Seungmin nods.

“He hasn’t seen the burns and hasn’t heard a word about what happened.” He says, shifting his pant leg further to reveal more scars.

Hyunjin extends a tentative hand to touch but pauses before looking to Seungmin for permission. When he receives his nod in confirmation, Hyunjin gently traces over the scars. He goes silent for a few minutes, the only things heard is the rain and their breathing.

A few minutes pass before Hyunjin looks up to Seungmin.

“You should tell him” he says, “If you want that trust to come back you gotta be open with him. You gotta stop lying about anything that’s happened.”

Seungmin nods.

“I will, I promise.”

And they leave it at that.

 

~~~~~~~~

The trip back to the truck is quick, the last of the rain gone and their path unobstructed. When Hyunjin and Seungmin return they’re met by a very distraught Jeongin who was convinced that they had perished in the downpour. It takes many reassurances and promises for the boy to calm down.

Hyunjin and Seungmin now sit in the front seats together, looking over their findings, as Jeongin lays down on the cot. He doesn’t sleep as he watches the pair in their seats. He watches every item that they pull out and pass between each other. Scrap metal, rations, small weapons. But what catches his eye is the shiny pieces of jewelry they pull out. Jeongin’s eyes follow every piece as he stares with curiosity. It’d been a long time since he’d seen something like that and he was very intrigued.

He sees Seungmin lean over to Hyunjin and whisper something to him as he pulls out another piece. Hyunjin merely nods in response and Seungmin starts getting up from his seat, piece of jewelry still in hand.

Jeongin immediately shuts his eyes and pretends that he’s asleep as Seungmin approaches him. He feels the cot shift and assumes that Seungmin has sat down on it. There’s silence for a few moments, all Jeongin hears is the quiet breaths from Seungmin.

“This is stupid”

Jeongin nearly jumps in surprise at Seungmin suddenly speaking.

“This is stupid but I feel like I’m gonna just fuck up if I say this to you while you’re awake.”

The faint clinking of metal is heard and Jeongin can swear he hears Seungmin’s heart racing as his breath quickens. Seungmin takes a deep breath and Jeongin feels something be set down on the cot, right next to his head.

“This is for you, a gift I guess” Seungmin says, “It’s not meant to try and bribe you back to me. Fuck I don’t think I’d ever do that. It’s just that…..that I think you deserve it. For years you gave me things, you gave me gifts, gave me your love and all I did was lie in return. Couldn’t even give you a proper fucking happy life. I just want to give back for once, actually give you a real life not some shitty lies.”

Jeongin can feel the tears forming in his eyes as Seungmin speaks. He stops himself from sitting up, hugging him and telling him it’s okay but he can’t. He can’t make himself do it.

“You don’t have to come back, just know that I’m gonna try to make up for everything I did.” 

With that, Seungmin gets up and leaves Jeongin alone again. The younger boy waits until he’s certain Seungmin isn’t looking before fully opening his eyes. Next to him he sees a thin necklace, the once shiny silver a bit dull but still beautiful. At the end, there’s a small precious stone and it glimmers in the low light of the truck. Jeongin reaches a hand out and gently picks up the necklace. He looks it over, gently wiping away his forming tears as he does.

And though he never says it out loud, not yet at least, Jeongin knows this is a start. This is a start to them making up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I’ve been waiting to write this for so long so I hope you guys like it:)
> 
> How’d you guys like this chapter?


	20. Chapter 19- Forever and Always

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why….Why did he leave?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay uhhh well this chapter was wayyyyy late and I’m so sorry for that>.< but anyways please enjoy  
> (Also I didn’t proofread any of this so hopefully no mistakes were made)

“Absolutely not!”

“I’m perfectly fine, Woojin, I can use the zipline if I want to!”

“You’re still half blind, Chan!”

Minho sits on the their bed as he watches his two lovers bicker. A couple weeks have passed since Chan’s return and his slow recovery had felt like years. 

Over those couple weeks, Chan’s vision had more or less returned, his leg didn’t make some terrible cracking noise whenever he stood, he could move his shoulder better now, and the colour was slowly returning to his skin. Though it seemed like he was making a recovery, Woojin was still intent on keeping Chan bedridden till further notice. Thus resulting in the argument that Minho was watching.

The pair stood in the other room while Minho watched from their bedroom. He had been sleeping but the sudden argument had woken him and now he just couldn’t sleep.

“I can see well enough to walk around without help” Chan says.

“You nearly fell out of the apartment yesterday.” Woojin counters.

“But that was yesterday, I can see better now.”

“Like hell you can!”

“Oh for the love of god, shut the fuck up you two!” Minho finally yells, fed up with his boyfriends’ arguing, “If Chan wants to go out and use the zipline to do so, that’s fine. All he needs is to have one of us with him. If the two of you got your fucking heads out of your ass’ maybe you’d fucking figure that out.”

Chan and Woojin stare at their younger boyfriend as he yells at them. They both look down a little awkwardly when they realize that what Minho is saying makes sense.

“Sorry for arguing, Minnie.” Chan’s apology is quiet and has an almost scared tone to it. He had never processed that Minho could get like that. He was used to the mild mannered boy who blushed whenever they held hands and always had a smile on his face.

‘I’ve been away for so long I don’t even know them properly anymore.’ Chan thinks to himself as he walks over to Minho and sits next to him. He silently cuddles into the younger man and wraps his arms around him.

Minho says nothing in response and just pulls Chan to lie down and properly cuddle. He looks up at Woojin, expecting the oldest of the three to join them as well, but Woojin just turns away from them and walks away. Both Minho and Chan hear him using the zip line as he leaves the apartment.

A rather confused and concerned look spreads across Chan’s face as he looks to Minho. The Woojin he knew wouldn’t leave after arguments and outbursts like this. He would stay and try to fix the situation, never leaving those involved alone. This Woojin was nothing like the one Chan once knew.

“Why….Why did he leave?” Chan asks, biting his lip nervously as he does.

“He just needs a bit of time to himself” Minho responds, “He’d rather not blow up on one of us so he’s getting time to himself to let that stress and anger pass. He does it all the time, don’t worry.”

Chan frowns at Minho’s words.

“But he was never like that before.”

“It’s how he is now, Baby, the four years without you were rough for him and really took a toll on him. We coped in our own ways, his was to bottle up his emotions, hiding the bad ones away and letting the good ones out.”

Chan just nods, unsure of what he should say. Part of him knows that he expected his boyfriends to be different now but it was still a shock to him. Maybe the end of the world changed people more than he thought.

~~~~~~~~

It’s mid afternoon and Woojin still hasn’t returned. Chan had begun to get worried, his worries getting the best of him. In an effort to help get Chan’s mind away from thinking of Woojin, Minho suggested that he and Chan go somewhere. Chan had reluctantly agreed and, after a brief hassle with the zip line, let Minho lead him down through the ruined city.

Chan glances around at all the broken and run-down buildings as they walk. Ruined signs and flickering lights take up the majority of what he sees. He sees the occasional shattered store window, the contents of which have long since been looted. 

“Min, why’re we here?” Chan felt an overall nervousness walking through the ruined streets. Something about it just felt so wrong to him.

“I wanted to show you around where Woojin and I have lived for the past four years.” Minho seemed cheerful, almost too cheerful, as he spoke. “Plus you haven’t really gotten out much since you got back so I figured you’d want to take a walk or something.”

“Makes sense I guess but why’d you have to pick a really creepy spot to walk me through?” Chan wraps his arms around him chest in a protective manor.

“Creepy?” Minho responds, “Huh, I never really saw it as that.”

“How can you not find it creepy?”

“Dunno, just always saw it as a cool place and a place that we got needed supplies. It’s also like the one safe way to get to the lake so I’m used to it I guess.”

Chan’s interest was peaked when Minho mentioned a lake. It’d been ages since he’d seen a lake, the closest he’d seen had been a pool of water he’d found underground but the space was dark and the water was disgusting. 

“Are we going to the lake?” His words are now filled with a newfound excitement.

“That’s the plan,” Minho says, “That okay with you?”

“It’s more than okay!”

Minho smiles at his boyfriend, it was good to see him with a smile. He knew this was a good distraction from what happened with Woojin, it was a distraction they both needed. He knew how these situations went; argue, part ways, have time alone, return, and make up. It was a cycle and how things always went, Minho wasn’t gonna try to change it.

Chan looks over at Minho and gently takes his hand with a smile.

“How long does it take to reach the lake?” Chan asks.

Minho glances around at their surroundings to try and gauge exactly where they were. His gaze falls on the barber shop that he and Woojin looted multiple times in the past so they could manage their messy and growing hair. Memories of water fights and long make out sessions spring to his mind as he spots it.

“Uh well” He says, “I’d say about ten more minutes or so before we get there but, it’ll be another few minutes after that of getting down to the lake itself.”

Chan nods in response as Minho stares at him. The younger man can’t help but notice the state of his older boyfriend. While they did manage to more or less clean him up using cloths, bottled water and a bit of soap, Chan still looked like he’d just come running out of the underground.

His hair was still choppily cut and a mess, clearly not clean. His skin, though looking a bit healthier, still held an unsettling paleness to it. While Chan was okay in terms of his injuries, he still looked off. Minho knew Chan was aware of this and had already mentioned how much he disliked his overall look. Despite both Minho and Woojin’s disagreements with him, Chan thought he looked horrible. 

Minho looks over him once more before coming to a decision. He gently tugs on Chan’s hand and pulls him in the direction of the barber shop. The shop itself had been closed off so travelers wouldn’t think to try and look through it. Inside, Minho and Woojin has a sizeable stash of items from the shop as well as some emergency supplies if they ever need them.

“Min, where’re we going?” Chan has a confused look on his face, “I thought we were going to the lake.”

“We are,” Minho says as he starts opening up the shop, which is half collapsed in on itself, “I just thought I’d grab a few things from here to just help you clean up a bit. You were saying before how much you didn’t like how your hair was looking so I figured you might like it if I helped fix it.”

Chan smiles at Minho as he says that.

“That sounds lovely, Sweetheart.”

“I thought you’d say that.”

Minho helps him into the store and over to their stash. The majority was different hair products he and Woojin had saved from the shop. There were some tools to help manage and cut hair as well as a small assortment of dyes.

Chan gives a curious look at the dyes as Minho starts picking out some stuff to deal with Chan’s hair. Chan reaches over and starts looking over the different dyes. These weren’t just store bought box dyes and a lot seemed really high quality.

“Something there interest you?” Minho asks as he glances over at Chan.

“Kinda” Chan holds up a few of the dyes, “Do you know how to use these?”

“It was tough to learn but yeah I do.”

“Do you…..do you think you could dye my hair?” Chan asks, looking a bit shy as he speaks.

Minho just softly smiles at him.

“Of course, Baby, I’d be happy to.”

Chan smiles back at him and starts looking through the dyes to pick one. He runs a hand through his hair as he looks. His hair is greasy and matted, it’s tough to properly run his fingers through it.

After settling on a colour for his hair, Chan waits for Minho to finish getting what he needs. As soon as he’s done they get up and exit the shop, their fingers interlocked as they walk.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Minho should’ve expected to find Woojin at the lake. He knew that’s where Woojin went when he was upset but ignored that thought as he brought Chan there.

It was hard to miss the shape of Woojin seated in the shallow water of the lake. He hadn’t even bothered getting out of his clothes and instead just sat there with his knees to his chest. 

Minho heard Chan take in a deep breath as he spotted Woojin, he wanted to talk to him. Chan wanted to make sure he was okay, to tell him it’s alright, and that they weren’t mad at him but he wasn’t sure if he should. The older man looked fragile, seated in the cool water and curled up. He looked vulnerable.

Hesitantly, Chan steps away from Minho and carefully goes into the water. He shivers at the temperature of the water, it was nearing the colder season, and took a seat next to Woojin.

His older boyfriend barely looks up at him. Woojin’s bloodshot and tear filled eyes look at him and Chan just feels his heart break. He doesn’t hesitate to pull Woojin into a shaky hug.

Woojin’s immediate response is clinging to Chan tightly as tears begin to spill from his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” He says, “I-I didn’t mean t-to get upset, I j-just wanted to keep y-you safe.”

“It’s okay, Love, it’s okay.” Chan gently plays with his hair to try and comfort him, “I’m not mad, neither is Minho”

Woojin can only muster a nod in response as he holds Chan tighter. He feels somewhat comforted by Chan’s soft touches to his hair and the now present feeling of Minho hugging him from behind.

For what seems like hours the trio stay in place, Chan and Minho still helping Woojin calm down. They’re only satisfied when they see their boyfriends smile adorning his face and his happiness restored.

“I love you both” Woojin quietly says with a soft smile.

Both Chan and Minho smile at him.

“We love you too” Minho says to him with a kiss to his cheek.

Chan kisses his cheek as well, “Forever and always” 

Woojin grins as he hears that, his cheeks covered with a light blush. For now it seemed, Woojin was okay. He was feeling happier and he felt loved.

“Forever and always” he says softly, “till the ends of the earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so so so so sorry I haven’t been updating, life’s been super stressful since I last posted because of school and personal stuff but hopefully now I’ll be able to update more frequently(for sure after exams) so stay tuned for more I guess.


	21. Chapter 20- Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s beautiful and for just a brief moment he forgets what he was doing. He forgets his problems, his pain, his terrible time trapped in the wasteland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I’m slowly getting back into a good headspace for writing so expect more updates:)
> 
>  
> 
> Chapter warnings: mention/use of guns, excessive blood

“You’ve almost got it, try one more time.”

Jeongin wants to snap at Hyunjin for speaking, he doesn’t want distractions and his words draw his attention away from his task. Taking a deep breath, he steadies his hands and lines the gun up towards his target. The pouring rain outside their makeshift shelter by the truck made it even harder to find his target, a line of rusted cans under a soon to be gone concrete structure.

Satisfied with his aim, Jeongin pulls the trigger. He’s almost surprised when he hears the bullet hit a can and cause it to fall to the ground. 

“Hyunjin, look! I hit it!” Jeongin excitedly points towards the cans.

A proud smile spreads across Hyunjin’s face as Jeongin celebrates his first hit.

“That’s really good, told you that you were doing good.”

Behind them, seated in a barely kept together lawn chair they found the day before, Seungmin watches with a proud smile of his own. It had only been a couple days since he gave Jeongin the necklace and over those couple days he and Jeongin slowly worked to repair their relationship. While it still wasn’t perfect and back to normal, that would take much more time, it was somewhat okay now. Jeongin actually spoke to Seungmin, he didn’t mind being with him and had even taken to sharing the cot with him now. Though they still didn’t kiss, hold hands, or do anything one would think a couple would do, they seemed better.

“Min! Min! Did you see? I hit it!” Jeongin excitedly points and Seungmin nods.

“I saw it, Innie” he can’t help but beam at the younger boy, “you did so good.”

Jeongin just smiles and turns back towards his targets and continued his practicing. Seungmin sits back in his busted seat and smiles lovingly at Jeongin. Seeing the younger boy find joy in learning a new skill brought joy to Seungmin. It’d seemed like ages since he’d seen such a bright smile on Jeongin’s face. Despite being slightly afraid of Jeongin using a gun, Seungmin knew full well that it was a necessary skill he needed. Travelling the wasteland was a dangerous task and defending yourself was needed. 

Shots ring out as Jeongin continues to practice, the rain continues to pour. It brings out an almost peaceful setting. Relaxing back in his seat and getting comfortable, Seungmin shuts his eyes and slowly drifts to sleep.

 

~~~~~~~~

A couple hours later, the rain finally subsides and Hyunjin moves to disassemble their makeshift shelter. Jeongin giggles softly as he spots Seungmin asleep in the chair, head tilted back, and light snoring coming from him. Carefully, Jeongin goes over and gently pokes Seungmin’s cheek.  
“Minnie,” He pokes him again, “Minnie, wake up.” 

His voice is soft as he slowly wakes Seungmin up. A soft smile adorns his face as the older boy blinks at him.

“Hey there, Sleepyhead” Jeongin can’t help but giggle at Seungmin’s sleepy expression as he helps him up from the chair, “You really shouldn’t fall asleep in this shitty chair, it’s probably terrible for your back.”

“For your information,” Seungmin grumbles as Jeongin helps him lie down on the cot inside the truck, “It’s actually quite comfy and it wasn’t my fault, everything was so peaceful. Couldn’t help but fall asleep there.”

Jeongin snorts,

“Comfy? That thing is gonna break any day now, it’s a miracle it hasn’t yet, and it’s barely got any cushioning.”

“Well, why don’t you try sitting in it and see for yourself?” Seungmin replies.

“Like hell I’m gonna sit in that thing, did you not hear me when I said it’s gonna break any day now? I’m not gonna be the one to sit in it and have it break.”

The pair bicker for awhile, not even noticing Hyunjin starting the truck and getting them moving again. They had made plenty of distance between them and the dome and were almost to the coast. The coast would be safer, there would be more rain which meant less scavengers and less scavengers meant less fearing for their lives. 

They planned to find some way to build a kind of home connected to the truck, one that would shield them from the rain, and hopefully live in safety there. It seemed better than risking their safety within the now compromised dome that was once their home. 

Hyunjin lets out a sigh of relief as he hears Seungmin and Jeongin’s bickering subside. He spares a quick glance over his shoulder at them and smiles softly at the sight. The pair are cuddled up together on the cot, both sound asleep. Satisfied, Hyunjin turns back to the wheel and continues driving.

~~~~~~~~

By nightfall, Hyunjin finds what he deems a suitable parking spot and parks the truck. From where they are he can just barely see the ocean on the horizon. A content smile grows on his face as he sees that. They’d finally found somewhere to settle and finally be somewhat safe.

After making sure that the truck was in order and that the door was properly locked, Hyunjin looks over at Seungmin and Jeongin one last time before reclining the passenger seat. He settles into a more or less comfortable position in the seat and gazes out the window. 

He gazes out at the bleak landscape that is the wasteland, taking in its sights. It’s not all that impressive, just dry dirt and crumbling buildings, but in someway it was beautiful to him. He scoffs at his own thoughts.

“Been living here too long if I can call this beautiful.” He mutters to himself and rolls to his side. It doesn’t take long for sleep to take him, launching him into a dreamless slumber.

~~~~~~~~

Hyunjin is shaken from sleep in the morning by three gunshots in quick succession and the roar of pouring rain outside. Startled, he scrambles out of the passenger seat to see what’s happened.

Behind him, facing the wide open door with his gun raised, is a furious looking Seungmin who’s clutching his side. On the floor behind him is a terrified Jeongin, curled up in pain and trying not to cry. As Hyunjin glances out the door he sees a bloody and very dead scavenger dressed in some kind of strange armour and a large piece of metal next to them.

Without hesitation, Hyunjin runs over to shut the door and lock it before going to Seungmin and Jeongin. Seungmin groans and lets the gun drop from his hand. Hyunjin can now see the wound in his side that has blood oozing from it, despite his efforts to stop the bleeding. He nearly collapses to the ground but grits his teeth and turns his attention to Jeongin.

The youngest of the three was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he resisted screaming in pain. The front of his chest looked burned and his shirt had a large hole in the front. Hyunjin wasn’t unfamiliar with the wounds that afflicted Jeongin, it was something he’d seen scavengers use before. 

Acid vials, easily throws and effective if you want your target to go prone. Hyunjin is immediately at Jeongin’s side, working to start helping the boy.

“Min,” Hyunjin reaches for their first aid kit, “What happened?”

Seungmin groans as he tries to sit,

“Lock on the d-door disengaged for some reason, that guy got in and went for Jeongin and managed to cut me. Had to shoot him” His expression morphs into one of pain as he hisses and puts more pressure on his wound.

Hyunjin can only nod as he quickly patches Jeongin up as best he can and struggles to find something for his pain. With what little medical supplies he has, Hyunjin manages to somewhat help Jeongin before turning to Seungmin.

Seungmin is now leaned back against that wall, head occasionally dropping before he shakes himself awake, trying to stay conscious. The amount of blood around him is more than concerning and Hyunjin can’t even tell if he’s lost too much. 

Ignoring the thought of Seungmin dying, Hyunjin crawls over to him and begins attempting to deal with his wound.

It’s bloody, the cut itself is jagged and looks like the blade left some kind of greenish residue. Hyunjin bites his lip and starts trying to stop the bleeding, trying to think of ways he could keep Seungmin from dying. 

“M-Min?” Jeongin’s voice is shaky as he attempts to get to Seungmin’s side.

“It’s okay, Love, it’s n-not that bad” Seungmin sounds weak as he speaks, he sounds like he knows how bad it is.

Tears begin dripping down Jeongin’s face as he tries his best to hug the older boy without hurting him. Seungmin wraps a shaky arm around him.

“It’s alright, I’ll b-be alright” His voice is getting weaker as he speaks and Jeongin begins to become frantic.

Hyunjin, seeing the state Jeongin is in and that Seungmin is starting to slip to a dangerous amount of blood loss, starts trying harder to save him. He doesn’t want to lose his friend, he doesn’t want to have Jeongin go through the pain of losing someone again, he can’t let this happen.

Quiet words are exchanged between Jeongin and Seungmin as Hyunjin continues to work. Despite what he says, Seungmin knows there’s a good chance he won’t make it. It terrifies him to think about that but he knows it very well may be the truth. Pushing that thought aside, he looks up at Jeongin.

“I-I love you, always will, no matter what, and I’m sorry I-I hurt you b-by lying. You didn’t deserve that pain and I don’t deserve your love after that yet y-you still show it. I-I truly don’t deserve someone as good as you.”

Jeongin starts bawling as Seungmin speaks and touches his cheek,

“I-I love you too, and you do deserve to be loved, y-you d-deserve a s-second chance f-from me.”

Seungmin smiles softly at him as his eyelids begin to grow heavy. He can tell he’s slipping into unconsciousness and fights to stay awake. He clutches Jeongin’s hand tightly and tries to focus on him but it isn’t working.

Hyunjin watches as Seungmin slips unconscious and begins to panic. Next to him, Jeongin has started freaking out. He desperately tries to find some way to bring Seungmin back.

As Hyunjin continues trying to save his friend, the rain outside subsides. Hyunjin is momentarily distracted by something outside despite his focus on Seungmin.

For the first time in over four years, Hyunjin sees the dark clouds above part, and for the first time in over four years, for real this time, he sees brilliant sunlight shine down upon them.

It’s beautiful and for just a brief moment he forgets what he was doing. He forgets his problems, his pain, his terrible time trapped in the wasteland.

For the first time in a long time he feels free, really free.

And then, from above in the clouds, a large shape descends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry sorry sorry sorry for the cliffhanger, I promise it’ll be resolved next chapter 
> 
> Anyways, how’d yall like this chapter??


	22. Chapter 21- For Your Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s unlikely to happen, Love” Felix reassures, “It’s just a safety precaution.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: mention of minor injuries, gun mentions

The rhythmic tapping of his nails against his desk and the computers around him are the only sounds Felix hears as he sits at his desk, staring at the screens. They were almost to where they were going, almost to the place in the wasteland that they’d finally located Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin in. 

For the past couple days, Felix watched the trios points on the map move across the wasteland towards the coast. He’s been surprised by how fast they moved but he figured there was a logical explanation. 

Felix’s tapping stops and his mind was brought out of deep thought as he feels a soft hand over his. He smiles softly and turns his head. A rather sleepy looking Changbin has draped himself over Felix’s shoulders and his hand over his.

“What’re you doing, Love?” Felix speaks softly as he gently takes Changbin’s hand.

“You weren’t in bed, missed you.” Changbin pouts.

“Sorry, Love” Felix kisses the back of his hand, “I’ll come to bed in a bit. I just have some stuff to do.”

Changbin groans and tries to pull him up,

“I know that’s a lie, Star, you just want to watch the screens. I know you’re concerned for their safety but you’re overworking yourself.”

Felix sighs and reluctantly gets up,

“Okay, let’s go to bed then.”

As Felix stands, he spots a grey cloth wrapped around Changbin’s other hand. Concerned, he gently grabs his hand and inspects it. Small specks of blood cover the back of the cloth and Felix immediately frowns.

“What happened?” 

“Accidentally cut myself making some food, it’s nothing to worry about.” 

Felix just sighs and pulls Changbin from the room. He takes him out of the room and into the room next door.

“Hm what room is this?” Changbin asks as he glances around. Felix turns on the lights and a simple infirmary is revealed. He pulls Changbin to sit and starts pulling out stuff to redress his cut.

“It’s the on-board infirmary that I’ve literally never had to use” He sits next to Changbin, “Has a lot of stuff in it to deal with minor or major injuries, sicknesses too.”

Changbin nods in response, watching Felix fix up his hand. He was surprised he’d never seen this room before but doesn’t think too much into it. 

“Have any other rooms I don’t know about?” He asks.

“Uh there’s the panic room, which is less a panic room more a room you go to if we crash for some reason. It’s meant to keep you from being injured too badly in a crash.”

Changbin gets anxious at the thought of crashing. He doesn’t even want to think about what would happen if that happened. 

“It’s unlikely to happen, Love” Felix reassures, “It’s just a safety precaution.”

“Does Ji know about it?”

“Not yet, I was gonna tell him soon, I swear.”

Changbin nods, looking down at his hand and realizing that it was properly wrapped now.

“Where’d you learn to do this?” He asks, inspecting that well wrapped bandages.

“There’s different training manuals on the bookshelf,” Felix says, putting away the supplies he used, “Read a whole bunch of them before I put myself under. It’s actually how I learned to induce a coma on myself, that and some helpful AI tech already installed.”

Changbin stands up from his seat when Felix is done.

“That’s impressive”

Felix smiles and kisses his cheek.

“Thanks for the compliment, Binnie.”

Changbin smiles and gently takes Felix’s hand. The pair then leave the infirmary and go to their room. Changbin is quick to pull Felix into bed and to wrap him in a bear hug.

“You’d better go to sleep, you need to rest.” Changbin says quietly.

Felix simply nods, mutters a quiet “good night” and “I love you”, and cuddles up before slowly drifting to sleep.

Changbin stays awake a bit longer, softly playing with Felix’s hair and humming a soft tune, eventually succumbing to sleep as well.

 

~~~~~~~~

Changbin pouts when he wakes the next morning, the spot next to him cold and lacking Felix. Grumbling to himself, he sits up and attempts to get off the bed. He curses as he makes one misstep and goes tumbling to the floor with a loud thump.

As Changbin rubs the side of his head in an attempt to subside the pain, the door to the room is thrown open to revealing a startled Felix.

“Are you okay??” He immediately starts helping Changbin off of the floor and helps him sit on the bed.

“I’m fine, Love” Changbin lets his hand drop to his side, “Just fell off of the bed.” 

Still concerned, Felix checks Changbin over before being satisfied with the state he’s in. He helps him up and gently takes his hand,

“Just had to be certain, Babe.”

“I know, I know” Changbin smiles softly at him, “But you don’t need to worry over me so much.”

Felix sighs and squeezes Changbin’s hand,

“Just be more careful, I don’t want you to get hurt. I really don’t want to be forced to use the infirmary more.”

“I will, I promise” Changbin kisses Felix’s cheek.

“Okay,” Felix responds, “Now come on, I made breakfast.” He gently pulls Changbin to the kitchen and serves him some breakfast before leaving to wake Jisung.

Changbin couldn’t help but stare lovingly at his boyfriend the whole time, appreciating how kind the younger boy was. He truly felt like he was in love.

~~~~~~~~

“So we can’t land?” Jisung looks confused as Felix attempts to explain the situation to him.

“No,” Felix sighs and rubs his temples, “The rain prevents us from landing safely. Unless you want us to be killed by the rain or at the very least lose the island, we have to wait.”

Jisung pouts and leans back in the chair he was seated in. They’d been over Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin’s location for a few hours now and he was impatient. He just wanted to see his friends again, wanted to give Hyunjin a hug and drag him off for mandatory cuddles he’d been missing for years. He missed all three of them but he missed Hyunjin the most. 

“How long till we can land then?” He asks, his impatient expression clear on his face.

“Ji, I already told you five minutes ago, just half an hour more is my estimation.” Felix is a bit irritated by Jisung’s persistence, “I’ll let you know the moment we’re landing. I’m letting you and Bin go down to get them so you’ll see them soon enough.”

Jisung groans,

“That’s still too long, I wanna be there now.”

“Just be patient.”

Jisung wanted to scream in frustration but finally stopped his nagging. It wasn’t his fault the weather was shit, he just was impatient.

He sits in silence for the next half hour, trying to be patient and wait for Felix to land the island. He smiles brightly as he sees Felix finally begin the landing process, the rain clearly gone now.

Jisung gets up from his seat and goes to find Changbin, who’s preparing to make the quick trip to the surface. He’s almost surprised to see the few weapons Changbin has, a couple knives and handguns. 

“Since when did we have weapons here?” Jisung questions, “And why do we even need them?”

“We’ve had weapons the whole time apparently,” Changbin responds, “And we need them in case we run into locals. Felix told me what he knows about the wasteland, most people there aren’t very friendly and will attack.”

Jisung gets nervous as Changbin tells him that. He really should’ve listened better when Felix told him about the wasteland but he’d zoned out. Now knowing what was told to him, he gets a bit scared. 

“We’ll be fine,” Changbin continues preparing for the trip, “It’s just a quick in and out trip. We’ll have the others and be out in no time.”

Jisung nods and starts helping Changbin prepare. It doesn’t take long for them to be done and for Felix to tell them they’re there. He takes in a deep breath and picks up the bag he put his own stuff in and stands up. 

Changbin stands alongside him and the pair head out of the house, preparing to find their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next chapter:)
> 
> What did y’all think of this chapter?


	23. Chapter 22- Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is the end, this is where I die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: mentions of death, vague mention of medical stuff(if that concerns anyone), minor gun mention

The bleak, nearly completely grey landscape that came into Jisung’s sight was one that he didn’t expect. He hadn’t seen a place so desolate and ruined in his entire life, and he’d come from a city destroyed by bombs. 

Next to him, Changbin looked just as shocked by the sight of the land. He’d spent four years in a flooding house and he thought that was the worst he’d see. Just endless water, rain, and fear. But he was shocked by what he was seeing. 

The only thing that really stuck out in the landscape was a crumbling building, a surprisingly well put together truck hidden next to the building, and a half destroyed body under some kind of a makeshift shield. 

“Is...is that a dead body?” Jisung nervously asks Changbin.

“I think so,” Changbin responds, “But we should still be cautious.” 

Jisung nods and Changbin starts to make his way down to the ground. He very carefully avoids the body, grimacing at the state it’s in, and cautiously approaches the truck. He tries the door and finds it locked.

“Guess we have to find another way in.” Jisung says, nervously looking around.

“Well,” Changbin responds, “If they're here they can let us in, so let’s try knocking maybe?”

Jisung still looks weary of the situation.

“What if they aren’t in there? What if it’s just some weird trap set up by those scavengers or whatever?”

“I’ll take care of it then and you can run back to the island.” And with that, Changbin knocks three times in rapid succession on the door.

Inside, there’s the sound of quick movements before the door unlocks with a loud thunk before it’s pushed open.

A blood covered, teary eyed, gun wielding Hyunjin looks out the door wearily. He stares at Jisung and Changbin for a brief moment, trying to comprehend their faces, before tears start dripping down his face and he drops the gun down.

“Y-You’re ...You’re alive.”

~~~~~~~~

Seungmin could barely remember the conversation he had before passing out from blood loss. He’d had flashes of lucidity as someone picked him up from the floor and carried him somewhere. Bright lights flashed in his vision as he drifted in and out of consciousness. All he could think was,

“This is the end, this is where I die.”

~~~~~~~~ 

 

For the first time in what feels like forever, though it hasn’t been that long, Seungmin wakes to a soft bed and pillows under him. He feels a slight stinging on the back of his hand and hears soft snores.

His eyes flutter open and he groans at the bright lights in the room. The room looks like a proper infirmary, various medical tools and shelves of supplies surround him. Next to him, seated in a chair with his arms and head rested on the bedside, Jeongin is asleep. 

A small band aid is stuck inside the crook of Jeongin’s right elbow, his once dirt cover skin and clothes now clean, his hair back to its clean condition. Seungmin gets a small smile as he sees the younger boy and gently plays with his hair. It’s then he sees the IV connected to the back of his hand leading to a nearly empty bag of blood. That explained why he’d suddenly felt better, not great seeing he still felt dizzy, but he was feeling better.

“Guess you helped me out.” He says softly to Jeongin, worried raising his voice might wake him.

He rests back against his pillows and continues watching Jeongin with a soft smile. He flinches in pain as he feels a sharp pain in his side. He’d nearly forgotten what had gotten him in this situation in the first.

It hits him then all of a sudden, where was he? He hadn’t even thought of it before, he was instead lost in thought. Slightly panicked now, Seungmin once again glances around the room. Part of him knew he had to be safe if Jeongin was so at peace next to him but still he felt somewhat scared.

Suddenly, he hears footsteps outside the only exit to the room. Instinctively, Seungmin reaches for the nearest sharp object he can find; a scalpel on a nearby tray of tools. He holds it tightly, preparing himself in case of an attacker. 

Instead of a threat though, Seungmin is met with the sight of Hyunjin. He immediately puts the scalpel down and smiles at him. 

Hyunjin smiles back and goes over to him.

“How are you feeling? Any pain? Headaches?” Hyunjin asks.

“What? No hello?” Seungmin jokes then smiles softly, “Just kidding, I’m feeling fine, just a bit dizzy.”

Hyunjin just giggles and sits on the other side of Jeongin on the bed.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, Minnie.” And he carefully hugs Seungmin, making sure to avoid his wound.

The pair quietly chat for a few minutes before another figure appears at the door. Seungmin blinks and takes in the face of the new person before gasping.

“Lix?” 

Felix smiles and walks over to him.

“Hi, Minnie”

~~~~~~~~

Jeongin slowly wakes to the sound of soft conversation around him and a dull pain in his neck. Groaning, he sits up and rubs the back of his neck. He hears cooing as he rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances around. He smiles softly as he sees his friends around the bed he’d fallen asleep against and his smile grows when he sees Seungmin.

“Hey there, Sleepyhead.” Seungmin says to him.

Jeongin carefully hugs him, moving onto the bed a bit. He’d been scared that Seungmin wasn’t gonna wake up anytime soon.

“I was scared I’d lose you” He says softly. He notices the others quietly leave the room, presumably to give him and Seungmin some space.

“I’m never gonna leave you, Innie.” Seungmin plays with his hair a bit hesitantly, “I’ll always be there to protect you.”

Jeongin smiles softly and gently touches the side of Seungmin’s face.

“You don’t need to be so hesitant to be affectionate with me.” He quietly says, “I’ve started forgiving you and I know that pushing you away, not letting you act normally with me, and trying to act like we don’t have something here is the wrong thing to do.”

Seungmin tears up a bit at Jeongin’s words.

“And almost losing you made me realize that I should try just as hard as you are to fix what we had, what we still have.” Jeongin continues, “No matter what happens I know we’re connected, emotionally, to each other and that means we’ll never lose each other. I know that because I love you, Seungmin, and I never want to lose that again.”

“I..I love you too” Seungmin shakily responds, “I love you more than anything.”

Jeongin smiles softly, wipes away any tears that have escaped Seungmin’s eyes, then, a bit cautiously, he presses a soft kiss to Seungmin’s lips.

The older boy smiles into the kiss as he gently pulls Jeongin close. No amount of ‘I love you’s could make up for what he did but at least he knew that Jeongin had forgiven him. At least he knew that they were gonna try and be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could never kill Minnie in this, love him too much  
> What did y’all think of this chapter?


	24. Chapter 23- Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamt about back then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: minor mentions of death

~Just after Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin are saved~

Hyunjin collapses against the nearest wall he finds as Seungmin and Jeongin are quickly whisked away by Changbin and a suddenly there Felix. All adrenaline that was rushing through his body left him quickly and now he was feeling the effects.

He didn’t even notice the tears pouring down his face until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looks through tear filled eyes and is met with the blurry sight of Jisung.

He barely recognized the younger boy at first with his sun-bleached hair, deeply tanned skin, and slimmer, more toned, body and features.

Without thinking about it, Hyunjin collapses against Jisung. Startled at first, Jisung quickly grabs onto Hyunjin and holds him close. He does his best to help the older boy calm down, softly speaking to him and gently playing with his hair.

“It’s okay,” Jisung says quietly, “you’re safe now, we’re here.”

~~~~~~~~

It takes about an hour before Jisung can fully calm Hyunjin down and he takes him into the infirmary to check him for injuries.

Hyunjin can see Seungmin laid out on the bed in the room and Jeongin cringing as Felix tends to what’s left of Jeongin’s acid burns. Hyunjin is surprised by the skill Felix has in medicine.

Felix smiles softly at him and Jisung as they enter the room. He finishes up his work on Jeongin and walks over to them.

“Feeling a bit better now, Jinnie?” He asks.

Hyunjin nods and smiles softly.

“Jisung was a good help, I’m feeling much better.”

Felix smiles at him and helps him sit on a chair.

“Let’s get you checked over then, gotta make sure you’re in decent health.” Felix says, “Well as healthy as someone who’s lived in the wasteland for four years.”

Hyunjin laughs a bit and allows Felix to start checking him over. He doesn’t even notice his hand drift over to Jisung’s, grasping it tightly.

~~~~~~~~

Four hours of Seungmin asleep in bed passes before Hyunjin decides to go check on him and Jeongin. He was happy to see his friend had awoken and soon the others greet Seungmin. When Jeongin wakes, Hyunjin silently shoos everyone from the room. He knows the pair need time alone.

He leaves the room and heads for the living room. He takes a seat on the couch and does his best to get comfortable, glancing around the room. He can’t help but feel a bit scared, his instincts from living in the wasteland and the effects of his experiences taking a toll on how he lives. He isn’t even sure if he’ll be able to live normally again.

He gets so lost in thought that he doesn’t even notice Jisung stepping into the room. He’s only shaken from his thoughts when Jisung gently touches his shoulder.

“You alright?” Jisung asks.

Hyunjin jumps and nearly hits Jisung as a reaction.

“Woah, easy there Jinnie.” He says.

“S-Sorry” Hyunjin responds, “Didn’t notice you, instinct took over.”

“It’s okay” Jisung sits down next to him and gently takes Hyunjin’s hand, “I can’t blame you for reacting how you’ve learned to react to potential threats.”

“I’m just so used to like, sleeping with one eye open,” Hyunjin quietly says, “Or having to fight off anything or anyone that’ll hurt me.”

Jisung gently squeezes Hyunjin’s hand.

“You won’t need to be scared here, Jinnie,” Jisung gently rubs the back of Hyunjin’s hand, “None of us are gonna hurt or kill you.”

“I know, Sung, I know.” He responds, “But I can’t just shake habits like this, it’s too ingrained into my mind and body.”

“I’m not telling you to turn off your habit and just make it go away, I know it doesn’t work that way, I just want you to know it’s safe here.”

Hyunjin can only nod in response before hesitantly cuddling into Jisung.

Jisung smiles softly and wraps a gentle arm around him, pulling him close. He really missed having these moments with Hyunjin. They’d been so close since the beginning and being separated for four years clearly took a toll on the two of them in ways they didn’t realize.

“This reminds me of old times.” He says to Hyunjin, “All those nights we spent cuddled up and sneaking off with bits of sweets we found as a group. Do you remember that?”

“I do” Hyunjin responds, “We always hid on the balconies until Felix and Changbin started going there, then we moved to whatever safe area of the roof there was.”

“Those were good times.”

“They were.”

The conversation simply got cut off there and Hyunjin soon found himself drifting to sleep, curled up in Jisung’s arms like it was his only home.

~~~~~~~~

_Explosions sounded in the distance and were met with the sounds of sobs echoing through the broken home. Hyunjin was barely through his twelfth year of living and he’d already seemed to have lost everything._

_His home._

_His friends._

_His family._

_All ripped away by the bombs that tore through the city. Hyunjin wasn’t even sure how he had survived but he knew he was alone. He was alone and had nowhere to go. The evacuations has long since ended, the phones were down so he couldn’t call anyone, and he wasn’t even sure if he should try going into the streets._

_At first he’d thought he had some idea as to what he could do, after all he’s read so many books he was certain he must’ve learned something. But he knew that this situation wasn’t some action filled story where the kid hero fought his way to safety, it couldn’t possibly be a possibility for him. He wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t strong, he wasn’t super smart, he wasn’t a good fighter and he didn’t even have any weapons._

_He felt like he was just Hyunjin, 12 years old, terrified, starving, and in no way capable of helping himself or others._

_So instead of trying, he curled up in the most sheltered part of his ruined home and wept. He wept for hours, not noticing how much time had passed or noticing that the explosions have finally subsided._

_What he also didn’t notice was the sounds of feet against ruined stone, footsteps, just outside the ruins of his home. He still doesn’t notice the quiet,_

_“Chan-Hyung, I think I hear someone crying.”_

_Nor did he hear the ensuing,_

_“Let’s check it out then, Jisung, but make sure you’re careful and stay alert.”_

_No, he only noticed the new pair of presences when he felt a gentle hand against his own. He looked up to be met by the kind eyes of an older boy with dark curly hair and a soft expression._

_“Are you alright?” He asks Hyunjin, clearly scanning over him for major injuries, “Do you need help?”_

_Hyunjin is weary at first but soon gives a hesitant nod. The older boy smiles at him and extends a hand to help him up. He meets the extended hand with his own, still shaking and dust covered._

_He’s helped up and steadied by the older boy, who offers him some water and asks his name._

_“Hyunjin” He shakily says._

_“It’s good to meet you, Hyunjin,” The boy says, “My names Chan and this is Jisung.”_

_The boy, Chan, gestures to a boy around his age with a kinda squirrel-like face. He looks over to Hyunjin and smiles at him. He walks over to him and extends his hand._

_“It’s super nice to meet you, Hyunjin, I hope we get along well.” Jisung smiles as he spoke._

_Hyunjin gets a small smile and shakes his hand._

_“I hope we get along too.”_

~~~~~~~~

Hyunjin wakes to a dull pain in his neck accompanied by the feeling of a soft cushion under his head. He slowly wakes and realizes that he’s the only one on the couch now and that someone had put a soft, warm, blanket over him in his sleep. Being so comfortable almost felt wrong to him but he ignored the feeling and rubs his eyes as he sits up.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamt about back then.” He thinks to himself.

He carefully gathers up the blanket and wraps it around his shoulders before standing. He decides that his best course of action if to follow the now noticeable sounds of movement in the kitchen.

He heads there and sees Felix preparing some food with the help of his small robot companion. Hyunjin stares for a moment before knocking on the doorframe to get Felix’s attention. The younger boy turns at the sound and smiles.

“Morning, Jinnie” He says, “Sleep well?”

“Slept okay” Hyunjin responds, “Neck hurts a bit but I think I just fell asleep in a weird position or something.”

Felix nods in response.

“Can you do me a favour and wake the others? I’m almost done cooking breakfast.”

“Sure” Hyunjin says. His stomach growls as he walks from the kitchen. He didn’t realize how hungry he was and the thought of eating something that isn’t canned and possibly toxic sounds amazing to him.

He does as Felix said and goes around waking the others, making sure to be very careful with Seungmin. He finds Jisung last, curled up on a bunk bed in a room that could sleep four people on sizeable bunk beds(though he guesses more could fit comfortably).

The younger boy looks peaceful as he sleeps. Light snores are heard, and yeah there’s a bit of drool on his cheeks, but Hyunjin can’t help but coo at how cute he looks.

Hyunjin carefully goes over to the bed and gently shakes Jisung’s shoulder.

“Sung” He says, “It’s time to wake up, it’s breakfast time.”

He’s met with a groan and a quiet,

“five more minutes “

Hyunjin snorts and continues shaking him.

“You’ll miss breakfast if you wait five more minutes and I know how much you love breakfast no matter what it is.”

That seems to encourage the boy to wake up slowly and stare up at Hyunjin.

“Fine” He quietly says and he sits up in bed.

Hyunjin helps Jisung out of bed and takes him to the kitchen. The others were already at the table, eating what looks like a small variety of vegetables and fruits along with small bowls of oatmeal with dried fruit.

The pair grab their own food and sit with the others to start eating. Quiet conversation is exchanged between all six of them as they eat. No one at the table notices Jisung’s hand drifting towards Hyunjin’s free one. No one noticed Hyunjin gently grasp Jisung’s hand. No one noticed the small smiles exchanged between the two.

~~~~~~~~

_Quiet giggles echoed through the partially ruined hallways as a pair of young boys ran through. They tightly grasped each other’s hands as the ran to the end of the hallway and up the stairs to the roof. Clutched in one of their hands was a small bag of assorted candy and a small bottle of soda._

_“Come on, Jinnie” a 13 year-old Jisung said to Hyunjin, who is also 13, “We’re almost there.”_

_“I know, Sungie,” Hyunjin responded, “But slow down, I’m not as fast as you. You know I get super tired when I have to run.”_

_“Get faster legs” Jisung teased._

_“Get a smarter brain” Hyunjin retorts, the joking tone in his voice was clear._

_The pair laughed at each other and continued up to the roof. This was just how their relationship was, full of jokes and teasing. One might’ve seen it as a negative relationship but it wasn’t, it was how they appreciated each other and how they showed their strong friendship._

_They made their way to the roof and to their secret hideaway, a small sheltered area that they made a fort out of. They settled down in their hideaway and finally opened their treasure, the bag of candy and soda._

_“Do you think they’ll notice the little bit that’s gone?” Jisung asked Hyunjin as they started picking through the candy._

_“Probably not,” Hyunjin responded, “Even if they do I’m sure Chan won’t get mad.”_

_Jisung nodded and started eating the candy happily, Hyunjin joining in too. They ate all the candy and drank the soda before they had gotten sleepy. Instead of going back down to the others, they gathered up blankets and pillows they’d hidden up there and made a makeshift bed._

_They got comfortable in their makeshift bed and quickly clung to each other to cuddle. It wasn’t unusual for them to end up like this when they snuck off, cuddled up together and falling asleep. It was one of the few times they managed to feel fully relaxed, in each other’s presence and happy._

_So there they were, cuddled up together, drifting to sleep, and happy._

~~~~~~~~

Hyunjin found it odd to find himself in a similar situation to the ones he’d be in with Jisung when they were younger again, but here he was. As soon as they finished breakfast, he felt Jisung tug his hand and take him back to the room.

“Wanna cuddle?” He had asked Hyunjin.

Hyunjin smiled, nodded and allowed himself to be pulled into bed.

That’s how he found himself comfortably cuddled up to Jisung, feeling somewhat safe for the first time in years. The younger boy gave off warmth to him and was still a good cuddle buddy like he was when they were younger.

Sadly, their peace was ruined by a knock on the door. Almost immediately, the pair separate and act like they were nowhere near each other. Hyunjin felt sad that Jisung quickly pushed him away but he decided to respect the boy’s choice and quickly moved to another bed.

He didn’t really listen to what was being said to them by Felix, who had knocked. He just zoned out and thought about Jisung. He didn’t really realize it before but he really cared for the younger boy. It was much more than just a friendship at this point, it felt like some lingering crush that had time to grow over the four years he was away from Jisung.

All he could think to himself was how much he found that he liked Jisung as more than a friend. He wasn’t sure if it was love, yet, but he liked him. The feeling was foreign to him but he was sure it was some kind of crush on the boy.

He had a crush on Jisung, and he had no fucking idea what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very excited to continue because things are gonna start getting fun after this :) Also Yay I finally figured out how to use italics 
> 
> What did y’all think of this chapter?


	25. Chapter 24- It All Falls Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don’t panic.
> 
> Don’t panic.
> 
> Don’t panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: fear of heights(if that does concern anyone), mention of minor injuries

The feeling of a gentle hand playing with his hair and the cool morning breeze was so relaxing to Chan that he felt fully at peace and without his previous fears. 

 

He couldn’t help but smile and nuzzle more into Minho’s bare side as they sat on the edge of the room, looking out at the city. They had just woken up from a nights sleep, still dressed in soft sleepwear; a tattered grey t-shirt and black shorts for Chan and simply a loose black pair of sweatpants for Minho. Woojin was still asleep in bed, tired from showing Chan around the safe parts of the city and going on a water run the night before. 

 

The pair sat facing the northern side of the city. This side contained more crumbled buildings and a wide river in the distance. Chan had asked what was on the other side of the river and Minho had responded with,

 

“That’s the northern side of the continent, it’s not safe over there.”

 

Minho’s response leaves Chan curious.

 

“Why isn’t it safe on the north side of the river?” He asks.

 

Minho thinks for a moment, attempting to find the best way to explain it to Chan.

 

“Over there the ground is a lot more unstable,” He says, “It’s like the tunnels you were in. The northern side is also where the Civilization is.”

 

“The Civilization? Like a place to go and live?? Why aren’t we there??” Chan immediately seems confused.

 

“It’s not that easy, Love” Minho gently toys with one of Chan’s curls, “The Civilization isn’t somewhere you want to go willingly unless you were truly desperate.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s a violent and merciless group that pretty much rules over the area around the river. Most people that unfortunately pass through and aren’t seen as really useful or as some kind of threat are thrown into their so called prisons. People who get sent to the prisons rarely get out alive and we’ve only met the people lucky enough not to get caught by Civilization members.”

 

“Oh” Chan looks down, realizing that what hope he had of the three of them finding a stable place to live was just brought down. As much as he loved the city, Chan wished they could find a safe place to live.

 

“Don’t look so sad, Channie” Minho gently moves Chan to face him, “We’re gonna find somewhere safe soon, we even heard rumours from travelers about a potential safe zone in the north-west. As soon as we know such a place really exists, we’ll try to go there, okay?”

 

Chan smiles softly and nods.

 

“Okay”

 

Minho smiles back at him and gently cups his cheek to bring him into a tender kiss. 

 

Chan’s hand goes to Minho’s waist in an attempt to pull him closer and deepen the kiss. He’s left wanting though because Minho stops him and pulls back.

 

“Don’t go trying those things here, mister” He scoots back from the edge, “Things like that might make us fall off the edge.”

 

“Then where can I try things like that?” Chan asks smoothly.

 

Minho chuckles.

 

“The couch is a perfectly suitable spot for that”

 

“Then let’s go”

  
  


~~~~~~~~

 

Woojin wakes to the bright morning light filtering through the room and a loud thud followed by the sound of giggles and lips smacking together. Groaning, he sits up in bed, pulls on his pants, and goes to investigate the commotion.

 

He’s not surprised to find his two boyfriends tangled together, on the floor, and making out. Minho is over Chan, his hands tangled in his curls, and Chan’s under him, his hands roaming over Minho’s back. 

 

Woojin stands there for a moment, watching the scene unfold in front of him, before clearing his throat in an attempt to get the pairs attention.

 

The two are startled and pull away from each other, both glancing at the source of the sound.

 

“Hm Morning” Woojin says, “You two get to an early start?”

 

The teasing in his voice is clear but it still doesn’t fail to make both Minho and Chan blush.

 

A simultaneous “Sorry” comes from both of them and Woojin can’t help but laugh.

 

“I wasn’t mad” He says, “I was just teasing.”

 

“We didn’t mean to wake you” Minho begins to get off of Chan, “We just got a bit carried away.”

 

“I was waking up anyways” Woojin helps the two of them off the floor, “I just came in because I wanted to see what the two of you were up to.”

 

Their exchange continues for a few more minutes with Minho mainly explaining what happened and Woojin getting a good laugh out of the situation.

 

After, the three of them decide to get properly dressed and get ready to go out for the day. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“I meant to ask you this awhile ago” Chan glances over at Minho from his spot on the floor, watching his younger boyfriend walk along the edge of the building they’d stopped on, “But when did you stop being afraid of heights? You were terrified before I went underground but here you are, doing all this crazy stuff high off the ground.”

 

Minho spins on his heel and looks over at Chan.

 

“I kinda forced myself to face my fears” He says, “and it was so Woojin and I could survive.”

 

“What do you mean?” Chan sits up a bit, now more interested in the topic. Next to him, Woojin watches Minho, wanting to see how he describes the past events that led to him getting over his fear. 

 

“Well,” Minho sits across from Chan, “It kinda started of as a necessity. The streets were getting more unstable and we were worried we’d get caught up in something similar that took you. We weren’t really sure how to get around without using the streets, until we met a traveling group that used the rooftops to get around safely. They were the ones who taught us to do what we do and along with that, I had to get around my fear”

 

~~~~~~~~

  
  


_ “It’s okay, Min, I’m right here.” _

 

_ That’s all that echoed through Minho’s head as he desperately clutched onto Woojin. They were nowhere near the edge of the building and he already felt terrified.  _

 

_ He’d tried to hide his fear for years, really only telling Chan and Woojin about it, and tried to push it away again after losing Chan. He just avoided ledges anyways after that. _

 

_ Don’t panic. _

 

_ Don’t panic. _

 

_ Don’t panic. _

 

_ “Baby” Minho is shaken out of his thoughts by the calming voice of Woojin, “Look at me” _

 

_ Minho avoids looking anywhere down as he looks up at Woojin. _

 

_ “I’m right here, I’ll keep you safe” _

 

_ Minho barely nods as he shakily turned to face the ledge of the building. It wasn’t even that high up, just a couple stories high, but he still felt scared. Below, on the ground in a stable alleyway, one of their new companions, Willow, stood next to a makeshift crash pad. Even though the crash pad was tested and safe, Minho still felt scared. _

 

_ The idea was simple, jump off the ledge and land safely. It was supposed to help him get over his fear, it’d had worked before for another one of their new companions named Cooper.  _

 

_ “Are...are they 100% sure it’s safe?” Minho shakily asked Woojin. _

 

_ “It is, Love” Woojin had responded, “You saw Willow test it herself. You aren’t gonna be hurt.” _

 

_ Minho took in a deep breath, realizing that any excuses of his to delay the inevitable weren’t gonna work. He was gonna have to try, he knew that he had no choice. _

 

_ After one last reassuring hug from Woojin, Minho carefully steps from the safety of his boyfriends arms and stands at the ledge. _

 

_ “Just remember to land properly,” He thought to himself, “Do that and there’s no way you’ll be hurt.” _

 

_ That’s what repeated in his mind as he took that first leap of faith. _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~ _

 

“And then after that I kinda just kept practicing that jump, conditioning myself to not be scared anymore.”

 

Chan stares almost in awe at his younger boyfriend. He couldn’t be more proud of the younger man for facing his fears head on like that, and beating them.

 

“After I overcame my fear of heights,” Minho continues, “We moved onto actually being able to move in the way we move now. After a good amount of training, we managed to get pretty good. We were lucky we had learned so much by then because the group that taught us had to move onto another region.”

 

“Would you ever teach me?” Chan asks.

 

“I mean maybe,” Minho rubs the back of his neck, “It can be pretty dangerous though. We got hurt a lot while training and even after that.” 

 

Minho rolls up one sleeve to show several scars adorning his right arm. Chan’s eyes widen immediately at it and go to inspect them, after getting Minho’s permission.

 

“I broke it once after falling pretty badly,” Minho tells him, “And dislocated my shoulder trying to hold onto a ledge once.”

 

“Babe, I know there are risks associated with this but I wanna learn. I wanna be able to get around like you and Wooj do, I wanna be able to be safer than I am on the ground. I don’t wanna be stuck underground again.”

 

Minho’s worried expression softens at Chan’s words and he gently takes his hand.

 

“If its what you want, we’ll teach you.” He says, “I just wanted you to know the risks going in.”

 

“I want this, Min” Chan squeezes Minho’s hands, “I need it.”

 

Minho just nods and looks to Woojin, who nods as well. 

 

Chan simply smiles, excited to start training as soon as possible.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

As soon as possible, as it turned out, ended up being a week later. Chan bugged his two boyfriends often during the week, asking them when they’d start. It wasn’t till the week had ended that Woojin woke him up early one morning, telling him that they were starting, that Chan was truly excited.

 

So that’s how he found himself in a similar situation to the one Minho had described to him. He stood on the edge of a two story building, a makeshift crash pad on the ground, and Woojin by his side. 

 

He listened as the older man advised him on how to fall safely and how this was something important to learn. He needed to know what it felt like to fall and how to react properly when he did. 

 

“I’m gonna go first,” Woojin tells him, “To show you how you should do it, okay?”

 

“Okay”

 

Chan watches his older boyfriend leap off the edge of the building, falling to the crash pad where he lands exactly how Chan was told to. Chan’s surprised to see how graceful the fall was, he didn’t realize Woojin’s body was so capable of that.

 

Once Woojin gets off of the crash pad, he looks up at Chan.

 

“You can go now,” He yells up to him, “Just remember what I told you.”

 

He nods and takes in a deep breath as he jumps off the edge.

 

The brief few seconds of him falling feel exhilarating. His whole body feels weightless and it’s almost like time slows down. He just barely has time to properly situate himself for the landing.

 

He hits the crash pad with a loud ‘thump’ and he smiles.

 

“That was fun.”

 

“And it happened to be executed pretty well for your first time.” Woojin tells him, helping him off the pad, “But it still needs work.”

 

Chan nods and he’s taken back up to the roof, all while Woojin gives him tips on how to better execute a safe landing. He tells him how to minimize the damage to his body and what he should do if a situation like this actually arises.

 

They spend the bulk of the day practicing Chan’s landing. Chan manages to get pretty good at it, gaining him lots of praise from his two boyfriends. They end up dragging the pieces of the crash pad to the roof and using it as a kind of bed to cuddle on. 

 

Chan finds himself squished between Minho and Woojin, happily cuddled up with them. He receives many kisses and soft praises as a type of reward for doing so well during his training.

 

“Think we’ll do this again tomorrow?” Chan asks.

 

“We will,” Woojin responds, “we need to practice your landing some more and then try it somewhere else.”

 

Chan nods and cuddles in more. He finds himself getting sleepy, the activity of the day taking its toll on him. He barely gets any warning before he’s out cold, pressed up close to the two loves of his life.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Chan wakes early the next morning to Woojin softly caressing his cheek and quietly telling him its time to wake up. He slowly wakes from his deep sleep and begins the routine of getting ready for the day.

 

Within the hour, Chan’s back on the roof of the same building. He gets into the same routine as the day before,

 

Jump,

 

Land,

 

Get critique,

 

Go back to the roof,

 

Repeat.

 

Part of him wants to complain about how bored he is and that he wants to move onto more stuff but he knows he needs to do this first part for his own safety. So, he pushes away his boredom and trudges his way back up to the roof with Woojin.

 

His body felt sore, the few hours that had passed of him falling and landing had taken a toll on his body. Even though there was a more or less soft landing, his body still felt battered and bruised.

 

“Do you want to take a break after this next one?” Woojin asks, taking a break from critiquing Chan, “There’s a good spot next to the river border that’s sheltered and a comfortable spot to relax.”

 

“Sure,” Chan rubs at one of his shoulders, “My body could use a break.”

 

Woojin nods.

 

After completing their next jump, Woojin scoops Chan up in his arms and tells Minho they’re all taking a break together.

 

Minho smiles and kisses both their cheeks.

 

“Sounds lovely” He says. 

 

Woojin smiles at him and begins to take the safe path down to the river, one arm holding Chan securely and using his free hand to hold Minho’s. 

 

The trip itself isn’t long, about ten minutes from where they were. The spot they go to is sheltered, like Woojin has said, and has a clear view overlooking the river as well as the majority of their city’s skyline.

 

The trio get settled on a patch of grass and begin light conversation. As they talk, Woojin rubs Chan’s shoulders and arms to help make them less sore.

 

“See that big, grey, rectangle shaped building over there?” Minho points out a building on the other side of the river for Chan, he had started showing him landmarks in the area, “That’s where the Civilization supposedly has some big base and a bunch of military type weapons. There’s a lot of rumours about that place.”

 

“Where would they get weapons like that?” Chan asks.

 

“Probably by stealing them,” Minho responds, “There was apparently a lot of military bases and facilities ruined by the Big Break and the Final Tremors.”

 

Chan nods and leans back into Woojin.

 

“Why would they keep weapons like that?” He hums mid sentence as Woojin continues to work the soreness from his body, “They probably have like big war weapons so why would they need them?”

 

“They’re ruthless, Baby,” Minho plays with Chan’s hair, “They’ll do whatever to keep what they call their own and if that means being over the top, then it means being over the top.”

 

“They sound way too over dramatic.”

 

“Well, I just think of them as all drama queens.”

 

The three of them laugh over Minho’s statement. What he said really felt true about the Civilization. The Civilization was known to take offence to literally anything, no matter how minor. Simply walking into the north side could warrant serious punishment for them. They just took pride in causing the misery of anyone not affiliated and loyal to them.

 

The three boyfriends do not notice the sky slowly begin to darken over them, the darkness slowly spreading over the city, as they chat. Maybe it’s because they’re so focused on each other, or perhaps because of the rain that begins to fall, giving them no reason to notice anything off. After all, dark clouds usually means rain for them.

 

It’s not until the bright lights burst from the supposed Civilization base. It’s not till sudden explosions go off in the skyline behind them.

 

The three of them quickly turn to face the skyline just in time to watch the tallest, still standing, building there begin to crumble from the sudden explosion. 

 

The building had once been seen by onlookers as a sign that there was always a way to survive, persevere, to always have hope for a better life. 

 

But now, now it had all fallen down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the story gets to start picking up more:)
> 
> What did y’all think of this chapter?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so so so much to my friend Chey who gave me the motivation to actually write this. Without them I probably never would’ve done this so thanks!<3  
> 


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